Volume 13 • Issue 6 June 2010

> Have Fun and Earn Credit: Classes Starting June 21

> Introduction to Aromatherapy Course Restructured

> CAM Practitioners Have New Opportunities to Help

> What ACHS Students Are Saying

> Recipes From ACHS's Holistic Kitchen

> Your Liver and Liver Qi Stagnation

> Full-text Downloads and Web Extras

Inside this issue ...

the ACHS Reporter

Welcome to the ACHS Reporter, your resource for holistic health and college news. Our goal is to provide our students with an interactive and engaging “launchpad” for their own complementary alternative medicine studies and practice. Inside these pages, you will find ACHS college news, industry updates, holistic health tips and recipes, career-building information, continuing education opportunities, and much more.

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[ 2 ] © 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences

CAM Practitioners Have New Opportunities to Help with Obesity Initiative

Earlier this year, President Obama produced a report with more than

70 recommendations for strategies to help reduce childhood obesity. The goal of this initiative is to reduce the childhood obesity rate from 20% to 5% by 2030.

"According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the American Botanical Council Herb-Clip News reports, "two-thirds of U.S. adults and 15% of U.S. children are

overweight or obese, which places them at risk for developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. [Note: The percentage of overweight and obese children may be higher, with other sources saying 20-30%.] "

To help combat these numbers, Obama's report focuses on prevention,

including prenatal care, breast-feeding, community education, and providing healthy food and nutrition education at schools. The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity is leading these efforts.

"Complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, botanical and sup-plement companies and organizations, and health food companies have a wonderful opportunity to participate in this initiative, " ABC's Managing Editor Lori Glenn adds. "While much of the focus has been on botanicals' abilities to decrease obesity and its subsequent ailments (See the FasTrak HC 051031-401 which covers green tea's benefits of reducing obesity and diabetes), pro-viding proven ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle and weight can also be a core message."

> To read ABC's original article, go to: http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbclip/401/news140.html

> To share comments on the obesity initiative and CAM, go to the ACHS News Blog or click here: http://achsnews.blogspot.com/2010/06/education-about-healthy-lifestyle.html

I n t r o d u c t i o n t o A r o m a t h e r a p y C o u r s e R e s t r u c t u r e d N e w s t r u c t u r e b e s t c a p t u r e s d e v e l o p i n g r e s e a r c h a n d s t u d e n t s ' i n t e r e s t s

Aroma 101: Introduction to Aromatherapy has a brand new look! In response to student feedback, we have restructured our introductory

aromatherapy course to optimize the flow of course content. Students, who have previously received a printed manual in this

course, will now access a fully searchable, online ebook. This format not only supports the College's green initiative to reduce paper waste and provides students with a high resolution, interactive text they can download and store for future reference. (Students may purchase an additional printed color copy of the course eBook for a printing charge. Please contact your Admissions Advisor or Student Services for more information at (800) 487-8839.)

In addition, the online course modules have also been restructured and

include more interactive learning and research tools than ever before, in-cluding real-time research feeds, interactive exercises, and videos.

"These advancements," says ACHS President Dorene Petersen, "are in direct response to students' feedback. Our students want easy-to-navigate, interactive, and flexible studies, and we are very proud of our ability to continually revise and develop courses to best suit our students' needs."

Aroma 101 provides students with an in-depth understanding of the history and uses of essential oils including basic methods of administra-tion and therapeutic actions of each of the oils studied.

For more information, visit: http://www.achs.edu/course-desc.aspx?pid=9&id=1

© 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences [ 3 ]

Have fun and earn credit this summer! The next semester is coming up on Monday, June 21, and there's still time

for you to reserve a place in our online summer classes.And, with ACHS's 8-week 100-level summer courses, you

can maximize your training and hit the ground running in advanced classes starting August 16 and September 20.

Summer is a great time to start making positive lifestyle changes—our courses teach you how to improve your own lifestyle while you study!

Register now to ensure you have time to complete your online orientation and receive your texts and materials before the first day of class.

Learn more about classes starting June 21. Click the hyperlinks below:

> Aroma 101 Introduction to Aromatherapy (8-week)> Herb 101 Basics of Herbalism (8-week)> Nat 101 Nutrition, Bodycare & Herbalism> Nat 306 Holistic Health Consulting & Business Skills> Nut 101 Introduction to Nutrition

For more information and to enroll, call your ACHS Admissions Advisor today at (800) 487-8839 or email admissions@achs.edu.

AC H S h i re s L i s a G re ve a s Ne we s t M e m b e r o f Ad m i s s i o n s Te a m

We're very happy to announce that we've hired Lisa Greve as an Admissions Advisor for the American College of Health-

care Sciences (ACHS).Lisa, who is originally from the Pacific Northwest, recently returned

to the Portland area after having lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, for several years. While in Utah, Lisa worked with Utah Career College as an Admissions Advisor and Associate Director of Admissions for three years, where she gained valuable experience working with both undergraduate and graduate-level students.

Lisa will work with ACHS Dean of Admissions Tracey Miller to help current and prospective ACHS students to determine the best online holistic health program for their personal and professional goals.

“I decided to continue my career at ACHS,” Lisa says, “because I want to help students enter a holistic health program. I have previ-ous experience working with complementary alternative medicine, including for personal use. I have used homeopathic treatments for my son, for example. When my son was a baby, I regularly eased his colic and teething with homeopathic tablets.”

In addition to her work with ACHS, Lisa will continue her personal studies this fall at Portland State University. She is currently attend-ing classes online.

Lisa Greve and her son, Adrian.

H o l i s t i c H e a l t h C l a s s e s S t a r t i n g J u n e 2 1 H a v e f u n a n d e a r n c r e d i t t h i s s u m m e r !

CAM Practitioners Have New Opportunities to Help with Obesity Initiative

[ 4 ] © 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences

What ACHS Students Are Saying

We know that making the choice to take classes—whether you are pursuing personal education, retraining, a new career, or continuing education—is a big commitment. So, we provide every

opportunity we can for students to provide feedback, which is our way of ensuring all ACHS classes and programs are timely, relevant, and engaging. Here are a few comments from current ACHS students about their studies and instructors. To read more—and post your own comments!—visit ACHS on Facebook and click on the Discussions tab, or click this link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=99091122240&topic=14027

Students in the Apothecary Shoppe College Store during the ACHS Career Fair in August 2009.

Students in the Apothecary Shoppe College Store during Dr. Arianna Staruch's lecture, " Natural diet and lifestyle tips to improve health and wellness," available here: http://achsnews.blogspot.com/2009/07/natu-ral-diet-and-lifestyle-tips-to.html

From Sharon ..."The instructor for the NAT 503 course , Arianna Staruch, was an exceptional instructor. She was very personable, enthusiastic and supportive of all students and really took the time to communicate personally with each of the students throughout the semester. I have been involved with many on-line courses throughout my educational endeav-ors toward my clinical doctorate degree in nursing. Dr. Staruch far surpasses previous instructors I have had. She truly exemplifies the holistic con-cept of mind, body and spirit to utilize and share her knowledge and love for her work."

From Lydia ..."I would like to say that Catrina Mianecki was awesome in helping me work around my Re-serve duty. Very understanding, and helpful. It was much appreciated!!!"

From Danna ..."I call Scott an adaptogenic herb. He is the type

of instructor I learn from. I especially love his articles in document sharing. He has a great sense of humor and makes me feel like I know him. His feedback when I was incorrect added to my "never do that again" meaning look up the herb before I speak. I am grateful that he catches mistakes like mine. I feel feedback is important because how else will I know how I am doing. I have enjoyed all my instructors however there is just some special quality about Scott Stuart. I feel confidence in his ability to lead my classes."

From Jennifer ..."Deborah Halvorson has been a helpful and knowledgeable instructor of flower essence ther-apy. I was fortunate enough to participate in 3 of the 4 chats she offered and I benefited from her personalized instruction. This course was a challenge for me. Deborah guided me through the confusion of learning to select the appropri-ate flower essences for an individual. She helped me to assimilate the course materials."

Black cohosh, Actaea racemosa

© 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences [ 5 ]

R e c i p e s f r o m AC H S ' s H o l i s t i c K i t c h e n

For those of us who know that herbs have health-promoting properties, but just aren't sure how to cook with them, ACHS has started the Holistic Kitchen community discussion board on Facebook.

Whether you're an ACHS student or just love holistic health and cooking, this is the place to read, post, and share fresh recipes for cooking with herbs.

For those of you who have already posted ... thanks! For those yet to post ... what are you waiting for? Summer is around the corner and we're itching to put together some tasty menus.

We were only able to include a few seasonal recipes here. To download more and to post your own, visit ACHS Discussions on Facebook or click this link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=99091122240&topic=13172

Recipe 1: Kale From Dorene Petersen, ACHS President"I am loving sauteing dark leafy organic kale, with onions, and garlic in a little olive oil, and a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg ...... after a few minutes I add a splash of water— pop on the lid and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. It is still green and has just enough bite and is very yummy."

Recipe 2: Summer Refreshments From Diana "Now that summer is coming something refreshing like melissa, lavender, mint herbal tea!!! Or a colorful bowl of strawberries and blueberries with a bit of spirulina and bee pollen on top... can add almonds and if you need, a little agave nectar!!"

Recipe 3: Nettle PestoFrom Dorine6-cups coarse chopped nettle leaves6 mint leaves1 to 2 cloves garlic⅓-cup pine nuts or walnuts½-cup Parmesan½-cup extra virgin olive oilSalt and pepper to taste

Rinse nettles in colander or salad spinner to remove dirt and insects.

Bring a pan of water to boil and blanch nettles in boiling water for one minute— this removes the sting. Drain well and squeeze out any excess moisture. You can also steam the nettles. Save the leftover liquid for soup stock or just drink as a tea.

Place all dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until chopped up. Slowly add the oil while blending until the desired consistency is reached.

Taste and season as desired. It can be used right away over pasta, gnocchi, or pour just a little olive oil over the top in a sterilized jar and store in the fridge for up to a month.

Recipe 4: Herbed Hummus DipFrom ACHS 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)1-t extra virgin olive oil1-T freshly squeezed lemon juice2-t fresh parsley (chopped)½-t fresh oregano (chopped)½-t fresh basil (chopped)Freshly ground black pepper to taste1-t tahini paste (a paste made from sesame seeds)Pinch of cayenne pepper1-clove garlic minced

Mash beans with all other ingredients. Add more water or lemon juice if garbanzo beans are too dry. Serve at room temperature.

[ 6 ] © 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences

Your Liver and Liver Qi Stagnation by Scott Stuart, ACHS Instructor

Your liver is one of your hardest working internal organs. It filters over a liter of blood every minute. It is responsible for detoxifying, nourishing, replenishing,

and storing blood. It also acts to energize you by releasing stored sugar. It also recombines amino acids to create the protein our bodies need to grow and repair tissue. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the liver is associated with the element “Wood”. And Liver/Wood is the organ and element associated with spring. Thus spring is the season which most herbal traditions associate with cleansing and tonifying the liver. When thinking of the association of Wood with the Liver, imagine a thicket of golden stemmed, leafy green bamboo sprouting and expanding upwards and outwards in the spring sun. The bamboo gracefully moves and bends with the breeze. If the bamboo and its roots somehow become bound and constrained, imagine the frustration of this growth. When the liver’s energy or Qi is free to flow unbound, you feel flexible, bending with the breeze. When liver Qi is “stuck” you feel frustrated, irritable, moody, even depressed.

Liver Qi Stagnation

According to TCM theory, one important function of the liver is regulating the smooth flow of Qi (vital energy) throughout the body and moderating our emotions. Anger, irritability, stress and frustration are all signs your liver Qi is not flowing smoothly. In turn, too much of these feelings in our lives can cause the Liver Qi to become stuck, resulting in issues such as the symptoms listed below. When this Qi does not flow smoothly it is referred to as Liver Qi Stagnation, one of the most common imbalances treated by acupuncturists in the United States. Factors such as an emergency, alarm, fright, and embarrassment can cause your Liver Qi to get “stuck”. When your liver energy is stuck, you may become irritable, have insomnia or migraines. That imbalance will affect other organs and commonly result in indigestion, irritable bowels or constipation, tight and achy muscles, and fatigue—all those things we mean when we say, “I’m stressed-out.”

From the standpoint of Chinese Medicine, the symptoms we associate with “stress” are seen as “The Branches”. In Chinese Medicine, one also treats “The Root”. In many cases when it comes to STRESS, a “Root” is Liver Qi stagnation. Finding and treating the “root cause” of your healthcare concern is a hallmark of Chinese Medicine.

Foods Used to Address Liver Qi Stagnation

These are just some of the herbs and foods that are believed to help Liver Qi stagnation1: Milk thistle, dandelion, garlic, turmeric, cherries, chicken, tofu, squash, sweet potatoes, red and black dates, caraway seed, mint, chamomile, lemon balm, oregano, red beans, and sweet basil

To share recipes for these health-promoting herbs and foods, visit the Holistic Kitchen Discussion on the ACHS Facebook page or click this link: http://www.facebook.com/topicphp?uid=99091122240&topic=13172

About the AuthorScott Stuart, L.Ac., B.S., M.A.O.M., is a long-time ACHS herbal medicine instructor. In addition to his work with the College, Scott practices Oriental Medicine and works with Lake Road Acupuncture & Massage. He can be reached at scottstuart@achs.edu.

1 Pitchford, P. Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. North Atlantic Books, 2002.

Signs and symptoms associated with Liver Qi stagnation include:

Pain or discomfort anywhere along the •sides of the body Depression •Mood swings •Sighing •Hiccups •Frustration •Inappropriate anger •Sensation of a lump in throat •Difficulty swallowing •Bitter taste in mouth •Constipation •Abdominal pain and discomfort •Stomachache that improves after massage •Stomachache that worsens with anger •PMS with irritability and/or swollen •breasts Irregular or painful periods •Poor appetite •Churning sensation in stomach•

The ACHS Reporter is a monthly eNewsletter published by the American College of Healthcare Sciences. Its purpose is to provide holistic health education, career information, and resources for holistic health students, ACHS graduates, and professionals.

The ACHS Reporter is available electronically. For the fastest in-box delivery, sign up for the Reporter at www.achs.edu.

Print editions are available by special request. Send requests and correspondence to the editor.

Managing Editor & Communications Manager: Lauren Shapiro5940 SW Hood Ave,Portland, OR 97239(503) 244-0726 ext 17Email: newsletter@achs.edu

© 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences. All rights reserved. Educators should contact the editor for inquiries related to reprints and permissions.

Web ExtrasAVA I L A B LE F O R D OW N L OA D

o News and Events The ACHS website, www.achs.edu, includes a News and Events link on the left-hand toolbar. This is your go-to resource for developing College news and articles by ACHS faculty. Read up on new discounts for industry organization members and potential new scholarships to help fund your education!

o Alumni in Action Read stories from ACHS alumni and learn how they have started successful businesses, launched radio programs, and published articles. Go to: http://www.achs.edu/alumni/alumni-spotlight.aspx

o ACHS Reporter ArchiveRefer to our past issues for an online archive of holistic health re-sources for personal and professional use. Access our archive at: http://www.achs.edu/news/news.aspx?id=8

CO N N E C T W I T H AC H S

We have more opportunities than ever to see what’s going on at the College and with your fellow students! Networking

is a great resource for questions, discussions, and to continually keep up-to-date with the most recent ideas and topics in holistic health.

In case you haven't heard, ACHS has its own social network.You’re invited to join MyACHS Connect, a vibrant online commu-nity exclusively for ACHS students and graduates. Please visit http://myachs.ning.com and sign up using the same email ad-dress that is in your student records, so your membership can be approved without delay.

We also have our ACHS YouTube channel where everyone can view seminars, lectures, and videos that ACHS posts frequently. Be sure to subscribe to the channel so you are alerted with updates.Please visit http://www.youtube.com/achstv to see what we have been up to! You may find your next great idea or passion in some of these videos.

Follow us on Twitter (ACHSedu) for real-time updates and news. And—be sure to share your Twitter address with us so we can fol-low you too!

© 2010 American College of Healthcare Sciences [ 7 ]

Signs and symptoms associated with Liver Qi stagnation include:

Pain or discomfort anywhere along the •sides of the body Depression •Mood swings •Sighing •Hiccups •Frustration •Inappropriate anger •Sensation of a lump in throat •Difficulty swallowing •Bitter taste in mouth •Constipation •Abdominal pain and discomfort •Stomachache that improves after massage •Stomachache that worsens with anger •PMS with irritability and/or swollen •breasts Irregular or painful periods •Poor appetite •Churning sensation in stomach•