Visit the National Sleep Foundation for interesting information about sleep.

DAAN has also compiled some helpful tips and suggestions for calming your mind and body.

And finally, DAAN carries many products to help promote relaxation and restfulness, including Jia Wei Hsiao Yao Wan and Suan Zao Ren Tang.

If there's something in particular that's keeping you up at night, maybe we can help. Drop us a line and we might be able to suggest some remedies.

Sweet dreams!

Some fascinating research that indicates acupuncture may help treat high blood pressure:

"He added: "This study suggests that acupuncture can be an excellent complement to other medical treatments, especially for those treating the cardiac system.

"The Western world is waiting for a clear scientific basis for using acupuncture, and we hope that this research ultimately will lead to the integration of ancient healing practices into modern medical treatment.""

Chicken in Chinese cooking:

"In my family, chicken has always been regarded as both medicinal and satisfying. Chicken breasts are boiled with Chinese herbs, barks and roots to make herbal soups. And unlike the Western world, which sees chicken soup as a cure for the common cold, I was always told that Chinese people avoid eating chicken during fevers and colds, which include coughing as a main symptom, since chicken worsens both ailments."

Studies show acupuncture has measurable effects on the body:

"This ancient Chinese technique of sticking needles into the skin to relieve pain, nausea and many other ills never fails to make me feel better -- more mellow and more energized. I used to think this lovely state was mostly due to the placebo effect.

But a growing body of evidence -- brain scans, ultrasound and other techniques -- now shows that acupuncture triggers direct, measurable effects on the body, including perhaps activation of precisely the regions of the brain that would be predicted by ancient Chinese theory. This is potentially good news for the millions of Americans now scrambling for pain relief in the wake of conflicting government recommendations on painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex.

At the University of California at Irvine, researchers have shown that when a needle is placed in a point on the side of the foot that Chinese theorists associate with vision, sure enough, the visual cortex in the brain ''lights up" on functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, though the cause and effect are not totally clear."

RESEARCHERS at an Australian hospital have begun human trials to test whether Chinese herbs can slow the progress of dementia, the scientists said.

"We are cautiously optimistic this study will provide us with some much-needed clinical evidence about a possible new treatment option for vascular dementia that may ease some of the burden on the community and the health system,"

Scientists believe herbal remedies show promise in keeping kids from getting colds and flus:

"Certain herbal supplements show promise for treating children's colds, skin allergies and sleep problems, according to a new research review.

On the other hand, the study found, some of the most popular botanical products, including echinacea, garlic and cranberry supplements, do not have the evidence to back them up."

A fun article about a Foods of Mankind museum in Hong Kong:

"There's no pretension of grandeur or professional design here: The 1,000 or so exhibits, collected from all over the world by the owners and some 10 like-minded friends, are for the most part displayed casually. The only full-time staff, Susan Szeto, is manager, marketing officer and museum guide all at once. The exhibits are accompanied by brief notes in Chinese, some grayed and smudged. And no, they don't serve truffle or foie gras samples here, although one is welcome to enjoy curry fish balls for HK$5.

I come aquiver with anticipation of quirky and even kitschy displays, and I am not disappointed. Visitors may be dismayed or delighted to know there's a Styrofoam replica of the world's largest pumpkin (the real one weighed 513 kilograms); a tiny room displays what looks like a papier-mache model of an Indian and a hut in illustration of the origins of grilling and barbecue; an Egyptian section is decked out with statues and several random bronze pots; and a giant meter-tall pepper grinder which, says museum owner and teacher Man Cheung, is the largest of its kind and apparently pried from the hands of a reluctant Parisian shopkeeper for about HK$4,780.

Whole sections are devoted to coffee and tea, grains, salts and sugars; shelves are lined with 100 kinds of pasta, more jars of pickles and 200 kinds of herbs and spices."

Green tea has many health benefits, besides being delicious and relaxing. Even the English--tea drinkers par excellance, are noticing:

"As studies continue to pour in showing that green tea can help fight everything from cancer to>heart d sease, consumers in England are, apparently, taking note. The nation drank more than 100 million liters of green tea last year, and sales of green tea products rose 87 percent between 2002 and 2003. By comparison, sales of other hot beverages have been falling across Europe recently. Related articles on this topic are also available on the NewsTarget Network, including: New herbal supplement product uses green tea and cinnamon for controlling diabetes."

DAAN offers Foojoy China green tea, China green tea, and Gunpowder China green tea.

Western doctors are using more and more traditional Chinese medical treatments in their practices:

" As more people across the world flock to traditional Chinese Medicine for treatment of various illnesses, more local doctors are incorporating some of those traditions into their health practices.

• One such popular Eastern treatment finding its way into Western style surgeries is acupuncture.
• "Acupuncture has many of the same qualities of chiropractice," said Dr Jemal Khan, Chiropractor.
• Dr Khan further explained that acupuncture stimulates the release of endorphins, which are the body's own pain killers.
• It also stimulates the autonomic nervous system and normalises nerve and muscle functions, which are vital to proper healing.
• Dr Khan has been using acupuncture in his practice for two and half years and said that it significantly shortens the healing time, especially with sciatic nerve problems and patients that need a lot of deep tissue work."

A good, in-depth article about acupuncture:

"According to principles of Chinese medicine, qi flows through the body via 14 primary or channels. To strengthen the flow of qi, or remove blockages in the meridians, an acupuncturist inserts a number of tiny, sterile, flexible needles just under the skin at certain specific points (called acupoints) along the channels. There are 400 to 500 named acupoints along the meridians, some of which are associated with specific internal organs or organ systems. If you are suffering from nausea, for example, needles might be inserted into acupoints on your wrist, while a vision problem might be treated with needles in the foot. Acupuncture practitioners believe that the therapy stimulates the body's internal regulatory system and nurtures a natural healing response.

Although Western science has neither proven nor accepted the notion of qi, a large body of evidence is accumulating indicating that acupuncture leads to real physiologic changes in the body. Numerous studies have shown, for example, that inserting needles into the skin stimulates nerves in the underlying muscles. This stimulation, researchers feel, sends impulses up the spinal cord to a relatively primitive part of the brain known as the limbic system, as well as to the midbrain and the pituitary gland. Somehow that signaling leads to the release of endorphins and monoamines, chemicals that block pain signals in the spinal chord and brain.

In one study, researchers using brain scans discovered that acupuncture can alter blood circulation within the brain, increasing the blood flow to the thalamus, the area of the brain that relays pain and other sensory messages. Hundreds of studies are now ongoing in the U.S. and elsewhere seeking to prove the usefulness of acupuncture for various ailments."

If you are in the San Francisco bay area, or will be taking a trip there in the future, contact us if you are interested in an acupuncture treatment.