Blog Archive
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...
Sleep during the pandemic is a topic that seems to be coming up a lot. While some people are sleeping better since COVID-19 started, many more are struggling with insomnia symptoms. Here are some of the reasons why you might be having a hard time sleeping right now. And with...
Ok, so the world has changed. A lot. We all have higher anxiety, more sleepless nights and many of us are googling things that hardly put our mind at ease. We have been staying at home for a while now and we don’t know when it’s going to end. With...
Anxiety and stress about the coronavirus are already taking a toll on our mental health. Feelings of isolation, worry about finances and fears about the state of the world are at all all-time high. As things around us feel more uncertain, here are a few tips that can help you...
WHAT IS THE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR CORONAVIRUS? Coronavirus is a family of viruses known to cause disease in animals and humans resulting in several flu epidemics in our recent past. The current coronavirus SARS COV2 which causes the disease COVID 19 is called novel as it has never infected humans...
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, please be aware that we are in a state of emergency. The United States surgeon general, along with the D.C. Department of Health and the mayor’s office, have asked that all non-urgent and elective surgical procedures, medical office visits and dental office visits be curtailed. This will...
Most people would like to live to 100 years old, especially if they can continue being healthy and active. Physicians from antiquity to present days had ideas on how to keep us healthy and slow down aging. And for centuries we’ve used diets for longevity. In the last century with...
Wearable sleep tracking devices are ubiquitous these days. As a therapist who focuses on sleep, I often have clients show me their FitBit data and how much “deep sleep” and REM they are getting. This is something that will bring clients to my office in the first place. One of...
In my practice, I find that many of the people I work with may not be completely aware of how powerful the mind can be. Particularly when we experience any physical pain, our first thought is often what medication to take or what can a doctor do to fix this...
Thanksgiving is around the corner and we are starting to see inspirational quotes like “There is always something to be thankful for”. There are also quotes about Thanksgiving that are meantto be funny. And the majority of them follow these lines: “Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to set your scale back ten...
I’d like to talk about the whole cabbage family because it’s one of the most important vegetable families and, certainly, the most diverse. You might have also heard other names for this family like Brassica or Cruciferous. We eat leaves, flowers, seeds and stems of the cabbage family which includes:...
Even though beets had a definite comeback in the last couple of years and we have seen them on the menus of many restaurants, they still might not be at the top of your list of favorite foods. Never the less they deserve an article due to their healing and...
Kohlrabi – not be confused with Calamari – is a vegetable that belongs to the cabbage family together with broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and, yes, you guessed it right, cabbage. It also goes by the name German turnip and it’s native to Europe. Kohlrabi is a cool season vegetable...
I really wanted to write to you about the cabbage and the whole brassica family but my husband said that cabbage doesn’t go very well with the Holiday spirit. So sweet potato it is! Sweet potatoes are native to America and related to neither potatoes nor yams, even though they...
Yes, it’s that time of the year again! Pumpkins are a joy to look at and to eat! Pumpkins originate from this continent and were a staple of Native American cuisine. They were dried and then ground into flour – a very Interesting concept! Pumpkin flour is commercially available nowadays...
Why is Nutritional Intravenous (IV) Therapy so popular right now? What’s the deal? Why would anyone sign up to get poked by a needle voluntarily? IV Therapy is a fantastic tool to get vitamins and minerals into the body with 100% absorption. The key is IV Therapy bypasses the digestive...
We are starting the new series “What’s in season”. If you’d like to read about Why eat local and seasonal food? please click on the link. There are more than 7000 varieties of apples in the world. Picking season for most of them is from September until March due to their...
Washington, DC – October 7, 2016 – Washington, DC residents will have an unparalleled opportunity to realize the benefits of their health from naturopathic medicine during Naturopathic Medicine Week, October 10th – 16th. Naturopathic doctors partner with the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation in “Funky Fitness First...
Do you want to get off depression/anxiety medicine? Did you know there are other factors involved besides brain chemistry? It’s so much more than how much serotonin and dopamine you have in your brain; that’s the end result. You need to think about how to make those neurotransmitters in the...
Well, there are many benefits for you and for our planet to eat locally grown food. And by the way, when you eat local food you always eat “in season”. Let’s take a closer look at these benefits: More nutrients and flavor. Locally grown food can be harvested when it’s...
As the number of patients with joint and muscle pain increases, we see ourselves inclined to remind you of one of Dr. Safayan’s services being offered in our office: Prolotherapy; “a safe, cost effective and efficacious therapy that can provide pain relief and return of function for many patients.” (as described...
I’m a huge proponent of sauna therapy especially using Far Infrared Sauna. JAMA recently published a Finnish study concluding that taking frequent saunas prolong life and is particularly beneficial to the heart and circulatory system. Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio) analyzed data from 2,315 men aged between 42...
Do you get an annual cold, or worse the flu and bronchitis? Both patients and their physicians recognize the periodicity of such illness but they do little to prevent them short of the annual flu shot. Unfortunately what our modern medicine has failed to appreciate is that our health and...
Nancy is a 70 year old active woman who had a right knee replacement a few years back for severe osteoarthritis. Although she got some pain relief, she continued to have discomfort in her right knee. Given her less than optimal right knee surgery, she was reluctant to have the...
Gaby was a force of nature; she was large in size, personality, attitude and love. She was the guardian angel to me and so many others whose lives she touched during her short life. Gaby died in May 2011 after a 9 year battle with stage four metastatic breast cancer....
In short, most likely the answer is yes. Most Americans over consume protein due to decades of nutritional propaganda. That’s not to say we don’t need a fair amount of protein, but individual need should be taken into consideration. One’s need for protein will differ according to lifestyle and health....
Recently spotted on the Chevy Chase Listserv, in response to a query about Restorative Health: “I cannot possibly say enough positive things about Dr Safayan, Dr. Melissa Windsor (nutrition) and Dr. Karen Threlkel (naturopath)… They have literally changed my life by finally diagnosing a condition, and comprehensive plan to treat...
One of the most common questions I hear is, How can I prevent wrinkles? Nothing will completely prevent wrinkles and some even consider them earned badges of honor, but there are things you can do to reduce them if desired. Food is everything! There are actually journal articles on the subject. It’s...
Millions of people suffer from seasonal and perennial (year round) allergies, and the bad news is that more people will become allergic as our environment becomes more polluted and unhealthy. The conventional medical approach to allergy treatment ranges from over-the-counter and prescription nasal and oral anti-allergy medications, to immunotherapy (allergy...
Debate over the benefit of mammograms continues. This article reviews a recent study of 90,000 women over 25 years to determine if early detection of breast cancer reduced death rate. In short, the article says the answer is no. For women, it’s disconcerting to know there isn’t a reliable evaluation...
It’s no secret that scientists are abuzz about the benefits of meditation. Thousands of researchers, academics, and practitioners subscribe to a Mindfulness Monthly Newsletter that catalogues the almost daily publication of scientific journal articles on meditation. Dr. Rick Hanson’s book Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom—which analyzes...
We all hate getting sick. The runny nose, chest congestion, cough, sore throat, headache, body aches, fatigue, and fever are not only inconvenient but really make you feel terrible! Why do we even have to get sick? Our immune system can take care of a lot without us even knowing...
This year RH was again invited back to speak to the graduate students in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) program at Georgetown University on the topic of Metabolic Syndrome and the integrative medical approach to care. Dr. Safayan spoke on the environmental pressures from pollution and poor farming practices,...
What healthy therapy has Dr. Mehmet Oz and Kris Carr buzzing? Far Infrared Sauna, for one. Unlike a regular sauna, Far Infrared filters out UV radiation and delivers only the safe infrared rays. These rays gently penetrate and warm the body, without heating the sauna space up too much. People...
Although used for thousands of years in the ancient world, acupuncture’s entrance into our modern medical system is a relatively recent phenomenon. When President Nixon opened relations with China in the 70’s, acupuncture entered the US by way of New York Times reporter James Reston, who traveled with the president...
I’m inspired to share my recent experience of the I Can Do It! Conference by Hay House held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor. I mostly attended to hear Bruce Lipton, PhD share his theories that our bodies are not controlled by our genes but...
What is “lifestyle medicine”? And what can it mean for your health? Over the past decade more and more studies are proving what we were already aware of: that lifestyle changes can prevent and in some cases reverse disease, and promote a state of wellness and vitality that makes life...
Are you looking for a natural alternative to the standard flu shot? At Restorative Health we offer a homeopathic flu remedy. It’s non-toxic, and is a great alternative for anyone who has an egg allergy, doesn’t like needles, or doesn’t do well with the flu shot. It’s a liquid, taken...
As the seasons change so do our bodies. In spite of our belief that humanity functions independent of our natural world, we are intimately tied to mother earth’s rhythms. Take for example when we go from late summer to fall to winter in Washington, DC. As the days get shorter...
With warm weather comes the occasional acute athletic injury. Most often these are remedied conservatively with rest, ice, compression, elevation (RICE) and taking a NSAID (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) like Advil or Motrin. Occasionally these injuries do not resolve with conservative management and become problematic with worsening pain, limitation of...
I was inspired to share something I learned recently at the Homestead Farms CSA talk here at Restorative Health. Luke was remembering what happened some years ago after they had just purchased land that was previously a commercial soybean field. Since they are certified organic farmers they did not continue...