How Toxic Are You?
Is your body a toxic waste dump?
This is a simple question guide that will tell us early warning signs for the need of cleansing impurities or toxin build up in our body.
- Do you often feel tired or fatigued?
- Do you feel dizzy, foggy-headed or having trouble concentrating?
- Do you use coffee, cigarettes, candy or soda to get “up”?
- Do you eat fast, fatty, processed or fried foods?
- Do your bowels move less than twice a day?
- Do you experience intestinal gas and bloating or constipation?
- Do you experience headaches or yeast difficulties?
- Do you live with or near air and water pollution?
- Do you experience general aches and pains or arthritis?
- Do you have food allergies, or skin problems?
- Do you experience frequent back pains or sinus problems?
- Are you often exposed to chemicals, sedatives, or stimulants?
- Do you rarely exercise or feel sluggish or overweight?
- Have you done a cleansing program before?
If you answered “Yes” to three or more of these questions, or “no” to the last question, it would be desirable for you to purify your system of toxins.
Celebrating Spring with Zen Healing Center!
3rd Anniversary at Zen Healing Center!
Zen Healing Center is celebrating 3rd year anniversary and giving out specials services and giving gifts for those who stop by!
Call Us for Coupons!
Raffle to Win!
Three years have gone by since Zen Healing Center opened our clinic in Edina, MN. Here is a brief history of the clinic from its beginnings to presents!
Dr. Zen opened his clinic, Zen Chiropractic Inc. with the 
slogan “Healing from Within” in
Bloomington, MN near the Mall of America. What started with humble beginnings with spending many hours of doing Japanese translation and community work helped to grow the clinic and eventually outgrow the Bloomington location.
After a year and a half, Dr. Zen was contacted by an owner of a massage spa business. Since they had an opening for space for the business, Dr. Zen decided to move his clinic into the massage business in Edina, MN. After 1 year of practicing Chiropractic in this location, the chiropractic practice outgrew the location again.
In 2013, after 6 months of searching, Dr. Zen found the current location in Edina MN. With the help of Fernanda Matsuda, his wife, they started a concept of integrating other healing moralities into his practice. An acupuncturist and massage therapist was added to the clinic and its name was changed the name to Zen Healing Center with the slogan of “Longevity and Wellness”.
Dr. Zen’s brother, a graphic designer, made a logo based off the Japanese Family Crest. Since Dr. Zen’s last name translates to “Pine tree in a rice field,” a symbol of a Pine tree was used. In Japanese culture, a pine tree is a symbol of longevity, virtue, and youth.
After a year and a half of opening Zen Healing Center, the clinic doubled in size. Demanding for expansion, additional rooms for acupuncture, massage, and an x-ray room were added.
“Starting with humble beginnings and moving from
place to place reminds me of how I am grateful of my clients who referred their family and friends. As my goal in life, Dr. Gonstead has also seen humble beginnings from a one room on the top floor of a bank to a 29,000 square feet clinic and seeing 7 million people in his life time. After many years of changes, we are now working with the best administrative staff and providers that I have seen over years. Working for this office has rarely felt like work. As many difficult cases stop by Zen Healing Center, the more I am empathetic and excited to be help those who are in need.”
Zen Matsuda D.C. Co-Owner/Founder of Zen Healing Center
“Being part of the Zen Healing Center team means excitement and joy.
Throughout the years I have received many feedback from our clients stating how happy they are for finding a place where they can truly feel healing. In the past three years, our clinic has expanded in size. We have added new services, improved our software, added new treatment rooms, digital x-rays and tests. Seeing our clients getting well is a huge motivation for all of our team members to keep improving so that we can serve them even better. We strive to keep expanding but our main goal is to keep focusing on the wellness of our existing and future clients.”
Fernanda Matsuda-Co-Owner/Founder of Zen Healing Center
“A year of experience Zen healing Center for me was pleasant, 
harmonizing, educating, and supporting. The team work was wonderfully done with the communication and help among the team members. I see that the clinic is growing in every aspect through hard-work and dedication to help people. I very much enjoy and look forward to continuing work at Zen Healing Center.”
Alice Min Kang L. Ac
“Hello, I’m Stephanie and I started working at Zen Healing Center after the 
holidays this year. Previously I worked at a bank and this environment has proved to serve me much better. I really like that wellness is a focus here and I truly enjoy seeing the health of our patients improve as time goes on. I think we have something great here between Dr. Zen, Alice and Matt and I am excited to learn more and more about their practices and techniques.”
Patient Service Coordinator/Administrative Assistant
“Hello everyone. My name is LuAnn and I am a transplant from Wisconsin currently in school for my nursing degree. I have been working with the Zen Healing Center since late December of 2015 and have immensely enjoyed the staff here as well as the clientele we serve. The atmosphere here has been amongst one of the best I have had the short privilege of working in. The providers are passionate about their work and truly care for their patients as nobody here is a number, but a unique individual with personal, customized plans. They don’t aim to treat symptoms, but to help get to the root cause and aid the body in healing itself. They aim for true well-being. It is an experience that ought to be experienced by yourself if you are, at all, a bit curious about what we have to offer!”
Patient Service Coordinator
“Hi all, my name is Chee Vang. I started working here in November 2015. 
I work at Zen Healing Center part-time and work full-time at Anthem, Inc. The past months that I’ve been here has been great. All the employees here are super friendly and helpful to one and another. Honestly, I’ve never knew how chiropractic works, but having Dr. Zen educating me and learning what he does to patients, has really helped me understand his technique of Gonstead.”
Patient Service Coordinator
My name is Matt Williamson. I began my journey at ZHC in May 2015. 
I have had a lot of fun learning from Dr Zen and Alice. I continually am driven to learn new innovative ways to help people heal. I have a variety of ways to accomplish this goal The most important part of my job is always understanding what the needs are of each individual person. The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that I am part of a team who is always doing their best to help people leave us healthier and happier.
Matt Williamson CMT, Cert. ART
Basic Nutritional Rules
1.Choose a diet that is as close to natural as possible.
The more processing that foods go through before they are eaten, the less nutritient value they have and the more added non-nutrient substances that have been added to them. For example, eat fruit and stay away from fruit juice drinks. Eat fresh vegetables and stay away from frozen vegetable servings with cheese or other sauces. Usually, foods in their natural state are cheaper and by far more nutritious than their refined cousins.
- Choose good fats over bad fats
The worst fats for you to eat are partially hydrogenated fats. You will find these included in most processed foods. These are related to all sorts of health problems. Limit your intake of fried foods as the constant heat will change a good oil into a health hazard. Next, limit your intake of animal fats, saturated fats, and increase your intake of good omega 3 and omega 6 oils. An example of an omega 6 oil is olive oil. Make sure that it is extra virgin and green in color. The omega 3 oils are the nut and seed oils or deep water fish oils. Of course, you may choose to take capsules of these good oils, but don’t do that if it is just an excuse to let you eat more animal or trans fats.
- Variety is the spice of life
Eat a wide variety of foods each day. The most commonly missed foods in a diet are fiber foods, fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Plan your day so that you get at least two of each of these types of food per day.
- Water – the other essential nutrient
Our bodies work on water. It fills our blood vessels, our kidneys need it flush out waste products, our skin uses it to help control our body temperature and the list goes on. We have a thirst center for water, not for coffee or juice or beer – just water. When you are thirsty, drink plain water until your thirst is gone. Then if you choose, drink what you want for enjoyment but avoid sugared drinks or those with artificial sweeteners. Drinking tap water can contain other chemicals so if you want to start with good water get Reverse Osmosis water from the grocery for water refill. Only do Reverse Osmosis water purely for 2-3 months then start putting a tiny amount of tap in it to change the concentration of Reverse Osmosis water. It will be too strong of a concentration of water to continue in long term and will drain out important minerals, vitamins, proteins in your body.
- Vegetables – the source of most vitamins
Don’t skip on your vegetables. They are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals (except calcium and magnesium) and fiber. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a salad of iceberg lettuce provides you with anything. It is one of the most useless foods ever grown. Choose any other leafy vegetable or lettuce for you salad and don’t use a bottled dressing. In general, try to eat one vegetable from below the ground to every four to five from above the ground.
- Fruit – hidden gems
Fruit is relatively high in carbohydrates so limit your consumption but don’t overlook these great sources of energy and nutrients. These colorful components of our diets are high in special nutrients like carotinoids, lycopene, flavinoids, rutin and other substances that help prolong our health and vitality. First, eat the fruit that is in season. Second, wash the skin of the fruit thoroughly and if it is edible, eat the skin with the fruit. Third, if possible eat one piece of citrus fruit for every two servings of other kinds of fruit.
- Don’t over eat or under eat your protein
A good rule of thumb is to make sure you eat two to three small servings of protein a day. Small means small, not the size usually given in a restaurant. Make an attempt to eat more fish. Fish is easily digested and deep-water fish like salmon, not farm raised, is high in the good omega 3 oils. Eggs are one of the best protein sources but as with all things don’t over do it.
- Sugar and salt have no redeeming value besides taste
Use sugar and salt sparingly, a little goes a long way. Don’t even think of using artificial sweeteners, their side effects can be worse than sugar and they don’t reduce your taste for sugar. Honey, maple syrup, brown sugar and etc. are almost as bad. Salt causes water retention and mineral balance problems. Instead of salt on meat, try a little lemon juice. This Italian trick enhances the taste of the meat without salt.
- Walk the perimeter of your grocery store
Think about where the healthy foods are in the typical grocery store. They are all on the outside. Shop there. About all that you need on the inner isles are cleaning agents and toilet paper. When you are on these isles of prepared foods, read the labels. Look for the quantities of fats, calories and ingredients that you can’t pronounce. Remember that the list of ingredients is in the quantity. If water or sugar is listed first, then that is the most plentiful of all of the ingredients. Glucose, sucrose, maltose, galactose, lactose and corn sweetener are all of the names for different types of sugars. By using more than one of these, a company can try and trick you into thinking the product has less sugar than it does. Pay attention to the number of servings in a package. To make a candy bar seem not as bad as it is, the company will say that the package contains two servings. When was the last time someone shared a small candy bar or saved half of it for another day? If you can’t understand the ingredient, most likely it is artificial sweetener or food preservative. This makes most of the food are not whole food.
- Don’t forget your calcium
Dairy products are one of the few great sources for calcium. Aging effects bone density and calcium is a critical component. Most of the societies where people live long healthy lives are cheese or yogurt eaters. As in all cases, moderation is the key.
- Take your supplements
It is impossible to create a diet that you will eat all year and fill all of your nutrient needs. It sounds ideal and it is. Our soil is depleted in some nutrients. In the winter, our vegetables and fruits come from South America. Food preparation destroys some of the nutrients. Set a good supplement program for your specific needs and think of it as an insurance policy. If you have any questions regarding which supplement company has good quality, stay tuned for a future blog topic!
Remember, a diet to support a long and healthy life is not like a religion. It doesn’t have any Do Not’s – just a lot of reductions and increases.
Holiday Special at Zen Healing Center!
Click on the link below and you can print out our coupons for the Holidays!
Quick Guide for Body Chemistry Imbalances
All Body Chemical Imbalances can be divided into one of two categories:
Deficiencies in the required ingredients for homeostatic cell function. In America, we are plenty over fed with cheap and synthetically made sugar, protein, and fats. After a while of your body ingesting food that is not nutritious, our body starts to show signs of break down.
Toxicities that drive cell function away from hormonal imbalances and bodies homeostasis. Many instant fast foods, cheap grocery box foods, and many more kinds of personal beauty care products are bombarded with chemical treatments. We are innocently treating our selves with all kinds of chemicals that eventually can harm your body by toxicities.
Cells always function perfectly in relation to any given environment. Symptoms like pain, nausea, and any other apparent health problems represent important signals from cells telling you that there is something wrong, that there is deficiency or toxicity, and that they are under stress. The cells never function pathologically or incorrectly, the environment is pathological or unhealthy! In order to function properly and produce healthy cells you must have all requirements met and be free of deficiencies or toxicity.
Hierarchy of Requirements:
- Properly Functioning Nervous System
- Fresh Air
- Water
- Good Foods
Good Food Choices to Make
- Organic, vine ripened local fruits and vegetables
- Grass fed, antibiotic free and hormone free meats
- Wash the non-organic produce-use a natural cleaner
- Eat raw fruits and vegetables
Toxic Food Choices to Avoid:
- Fried food (fries, donuts, chips, etc)
- Processed and Non fiber carbohydrates (flour, pasta, bread, etc)
- Grains (limited whole grains-wild rice and whole oats)
- Dairy (limited non-pasteurized dairy)
- Juices (limited very diluted)
- Caffeine
- Sprayed, early harvested fruits and vegetables
- Grain fed, antibiotic fed, hormone fed or smoked meats
- Non-filtered or non-distilled water
- Dried fruits
- Hydrogenated fats
- Partially hydrogenated fat
- Trans fats
- Added Salts
- MSG
- Hydrolyzed protein (disguised MSG)
- Aspartame and other artificial sweetners
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
Oriental Medicine Day!! @ Zen Healing Center
October 21, 2015 in Acupuncture, General Health, Stress management
Tagged acute pain, anti-inflammatory, anxiety, auto injury, backache, chronic pain, deeper sleep, difficulty sleeping, free acupuncture, headaches, Healing, Holistic Health, inflammation, insomnia, Longevity, neck pain, pain, pregnancy, relaxation, relaxing, shoulder pain, wellness
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