Author Archive


How to grow your own sprouts. How to grow your own sprouts.

  Sprouts not only taste good, they’re full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and enzymes. Their nutritional benefits were discovered by the Chinese thousands of years ago. In Chinese medicine a seed is considered to be yin and it’s offshoot is considered to be yang, so the ancient Chinese recognized that as a seed sprouts, [...]


Splenda – Not So Splendid! Splenda - Not So Splendid!

Splenda®, it is claimed, is the perfect alternative to sugar – sweet but with no calories, no insulin spike and according to the manufacturers no side effects. However recent research suggests that Splenda® is not as safe as we thought. In fact it seems to be the latest in a long line of artificial sweeteners [...]


Exercise during pregnancy

“Is it safe to exercise during pregnancy?” I get this question a lot from new moms and the answer is that for most women it is perfectly safe as long as they keep a few common sense guidelines in mind. In fact not only is it safe but it’s a good idea to stay physically [...]


Italian Wedding Soup (Lightened up!) Italian Wedding Soup (Lightened up!)

I love Italian Wedding Soup but some recipes can be quite high in calories. This healthy version uses ground turkey instead of beef and is packed with veggies for their nutritional value. I also tossed in some pearled barley as a healthier alternative to the pasta used in most Italian Wedding Soup recipes. So yummy! [...]


Eye Foods – 10 simple ways to improve your vision. Eye Foods - 10 simple ways to improve your vision.

Eyes are often called the window to the soul but they are also a window to your health. When I meet a patient for the first time I always look at their eyes for clues about their well being. We all know that our vision decreases with age, but did you know that you can [...]


Celery: An often overlooked nutritional powerhouse. Celery: An often overlooked nutritional powerhouse.

Apparently it takes more calories to chew a stick of celery than the stick contains, which is why dieters have always favored this vegetable and use it as an alternative to chips or crackers. The U shape makes a celery stick an excellent low calorie vehicle for dips and spreads, but did you know it’s [...]


Love and Fear

Ultimately, all thoughts are sponsored by love or fear. All thoughts, ideas, concepts, understandings, decisions, choices, and actions are based on these. And, in the end, there is really only one. Love. In truth, love is all there is. Neale Donald Walsch


Eggs: Demystifying egg cartons Eggs: Demystifying egg cartons

My husband Noah tells me that every time he goes to the supermarket he agonizes over which eggs to buy. Are the certified humane eggs better than the certified organic? Does the fact that the eggs say cage-free mean the same as humane? If the carton says natural does that mean the same as free [...]


Making Jam with Emma Making Jam with Emma

Hello All! It’s Emma here, Jill’s daughter, and I have decided to take over the blog for today! I wanted to share with you all a wonderful jam recipe that I learned this past weekend. You see, it turns out that I come from a history of quite avid ‘jammers.’ My grandmother used to have [...]


8 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Circulation 8 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Circulation

Do your hands and feet ever get noticeably colder than the rest of you? Maybe you wake up before your extremities do.  Perhaps you get pins and needles if you sit for too long. These are all signs of mild circulatory problems that many of my patients ignore or dismiss as a minor inconvenience. However [...]


Treating Eating Disorders with Chinese Medicine Treating Eating Disorders with Chinese Medicine

There are troubling new statistics about eating disorders that show the number of people dealing with the disease is on the rise. Certainly here at the YinOva Center we are seeing an increase in both women and men who are seeking our help for a variety of problems related to eating and weight. The holistic [...]


Tonight’s Rare Lunar Eclipse: A Chinese Medicine Perspective Tonight's Rare Lunar Eclipse: A Chinese Medicine Perspective

According to NASA an unusual astronomical drama will play out tonight when a full lunar eclipse will coincide with the winter solstice for the first time in several centuries. The last time this happened was in 1648 and astronomers believe that this is only the second such occurrence in the last two millennia. The winter [...]


Easy Whole Grain and Oat Skillet Bread Easy Whole Grain and Oat Skillet Bread

This morning with no bread in the house and a chill in the air, I remembered my grandmother making skillet bread and decided to improvise a healthier version.  It took 5 minutes to mix and 5 minutes to cook so is an easy and quick addition to any breakfast table. The whole grains and oats [...]


Honey – An alternative to cough medicine for children

Recently the FDA reiterated its warning that children under six shouldn’t be given cough syrup which begs the question what’s a Mom to do? Some of our patients have emailed us to ask if we have any suggestions for alternatives to cough syrup in light of FDA findings that they can have serious side effects [...]


5 Healthy Ways to Start your Day

I have an admission to make… At the YinOva Center we are not paragons of virtue. Patients visiting us for the first time sometimes imagine that we will be scarily macrobiotic women who will pour scorn on their efforts to take care of themselves. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are all working-women [...]


Jill is speaking about Sulwhasoo Cosmetics at Bergdorf Goodman this evening Jill is speaking about Sulwhasoo Cosmetics at Bergdorf Goodman this evening

Many of you will be joining YinOva Founder and Clinic Director, Jill Blakeway, at Bergdorf Goodman this evening to sample some wonderful cosmetics from Sulwhasoo of Korea. Based on thousands of years of wisdom these creams and lotions are made from healing Asian herbs, prepared in accordance with hundreds of years tradition, combined with the [...]


Study reveals that blood group may affect fertility Study reveals that blood group may affect fertility

Women with a common blood type could be twice as likely to suffer from fertility problems, say scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Yale University. Women with blood group O are at a higher risk of running out of healthy eggs according to research presented this week at the American [...]


Dairy-Free Macaroni and “Cheese” Dairy-Free Macaroni and "Cheese"

Readers of my book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility may have noticed that I suggest that some people cut down on their consumption of dairy products. Many of us could benefit from eating less dairy and in my practice I often suggest that patients who suffer from excessive mucus adjust their [...]


Roasted Root Vegetables Roasted Root Vegetables

We’re enjoying beautiful crisp autumn weather in upstate New York this weekend.  The sky is clear and blue, the sun is shining but there’s a slight chill in the air which makes me think of cooking nourishing food after a long walk with the dog.  Our vegetable garden has lost most of it’s summer abundance [...]


Eating to conceive: The importance of healthy fats Eating to conceive: The importance of healthy fats

Anne had been a strict dieter since college. Maggie is a yoga teacher and considers herself a healthy eater. Sherrie prides herself on her macrobiotic diet and low body fat. All of these women have something in common. All of them came to the YinOva Center because they were having trouble getting pregnant. Each of [...]


10 Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer 10 Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer

Some risk factors for breast cancer are out of our hands. I, like many women, am at an increased risk because my mother died of breast cancer. Women with dense breast tissue have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer as do women with certain benign breast diseases. There is nothing we can do [...]


Everything Old is New Again Everything Old is New Again

Today’s Blog is by YinOva massage therapist, Nicole Kruck LMT. “In the old days we couldn’t just up and run to the doctor for every little ache and pain” my grandma Viola used to say.  “There weren’t hospitals or doctors near enough”. So what did they do back then? In this day and age when [...]


Luteal Phase Defect Luteal Phase Defect

Overnight one of my patients “facebooked” me to let me know she’d had her baby – a happy reminder of all the reasons I love my job. Helping couples to conceive is rewarding and interesting work. When a patient first consults me I ask lots of questions, some of which may seem off-topic, but together [...]


Preparing for Autumn Preparing for Autumn

Whilst studying Chinese medicine I was introduced to the the idea that our bodies are in tune with nature and that we can and should adapt our behavior in response to nature. At the time this was news to me but over the years I have appreciated the wisdom of taking my cues from the [...]