Posts by Sara Szal MD
Pokeberry: A Natural Dye that Acts as a Lymph Cleanser
Pokeberry, which grows around my home as a weed, is a natural lymph cleanser. Synthetic dyes are associated with allergy, asthma, bladder cancer and cause genotoxicity. Some synthetic dyes mimic estrogen in the body. Poke is a beautiful example of a dye that can create gorgeous color, and actually improve your health. This is a…
Read MoreD15 of August Break: My Favorite Natural Dyes
Oak galls (or Oak apples, as they’re sometimes called) fascinate me. They are a result of the puncture of the bark of an Oak tree by the female Gallwasp, Cynips Gallae-tinctoriae, who lays its eggs inside. Five to seven cm in diameter, they make a smokey grey or black dye. Beautiful. Thank you to Rebecca Burgess…
Read MoreHave You Seen My Sex Drive?
10,000 women in my private practice so far. Guess what every one of them wants to know? Single, divorced, pregnant, married, retired, gay – seriously, everyone. They can hardly wait for the door to close. “My sex drive! Where did it go? I want it back.” Inside my office, this question feels safe. Outside my…
Read MoreD9 August Break: Blue Bottle, Anyone?
Blue Bottle artisanal coffee, roasted in the ‘hood here in Oakland’s Jack London Square. Now, if we could just settle the acrylamide issue….
Read MoreD7 August Break: Breaking Free from Restriction
We’re one week into the August Break. Trying not to write, but as usual I’m processing, processing, processing. Here’s what I’m working with, in the hopes that it’ll provide some benefit to you. It’s a path toward greater authenticity. It’s my daily inquiry, my endeavor to break out of the old-school medical paradigm into my…
Read MoreDay 6 of August Break: Happiness Held Is the Seed – Happiness Shared Is the Flower
My August Break took me to Santa Monica this weekend. David Gottfried, aka Darling Husband, wanted to go to Ivy for date night and I wanted to go to Seed in Venice. David, since he grew up in LA and knows how it’s done around here, called to make a reservation. “Uh, that’s cool, but…
Read MoreAugust Break: Dahlia's Wisdom + Freak Flags
Yesterday I got inspired by a pocketful of dahlias at my local glasses shop, Focal Point in Berkeley. Then I got to thinking about Dahlia Lithwick, sage commentator on all things constitutional and Supreme Court. So I thought I’d tie those two things together today on my August Break. “I think men get…
Read MoreAugust Break with Adrian Grenier: HOT!
How can I resist? Arm-in-arm with Adrian Grenier, star of Entourage … my oxytocin overfloweth! Buzzed for days!
Read MoreDr. Weil: What Is Integrative Medicine?
Here’s a transcript from Dr. Andy Weil’s interview with Larry King. Harvard didn’t teach me more than 30 minutes of nutrition either, even though I graduated years after Dr. Weil. I would also add to the good Dr. Weil’s comments that integrative medicine features the 4 P’s: it’s personalized, predictive, preventive and participatory. What does…
Read MoreAugust Break: A Picture Is Worth a 1000 Words + A Dose of Uddiyana
is there anything more luscious than cat/cow when you’ve been writing all day? my cat/cow revealed as with most things, i do cat/cow differently than most… inhale/arch back into a back bend; exhale/round back like a halloween cat, pause, stay empty of breath, and pull belly back toward spine into uddiyana. hold for as long as…
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