Chinese Medicine Archives - Page 6 of 7

Twitches, Tremors, and Dizziness and Chinese Medicine

One of the best things about practicing Chinese medicine is explaining how it works to people who have never had acupuncture. Most people understand my explanations about Qi and Yin and Yang, stagnation and depletion. However, a couple of times in the past week I have tried to explain the pathogen called wind, only to be met with very blank stares. And to make matters worse, the more I tried to explain, the blanker the stare.

It’s hard to understand how a weather condition could be causing such misery. But it’s true, in Chinese medicine wind can be the evil force behind tremors, dizziness, numbness, and twitches. It can also cause seasonal allergies, colds or even the current flu that’s going around.

Let me explain.

First of all, wind is considered a pathogen, or something that makes you sick. Many of the concepts of Chinese medicine are based on the natural world, and what makes you sick is no exception. Pathogens are a little bit like bad weather in your body. When you have a fever or inflammation, you have heat; when your arthritis flares up during the cold weather, you have a cold pathogen; and when you retain lots of water, you have dampness. (This is a very simplified explanation.)

Wind is considered movement where there should be stillness. As a pathogen, wind is dry, light and active. It tends to be Yang in nature—like the sunny side of the hill—it’s slightly warm, and it generally moves upward and outward.

There are actually two kinds of wind—internal and external. Internal wind tends to affect your body on a deeper level. It’s frequently associated with a malfunction of the Liver system to control the smooth flow of energy in your body, and can cause symptoms associated with movement—vertigo, tremors, twitches, and seizures. Wind is usually the dark cocktail behind illnesses such as Meniere’s and Parkinson’s.

While frequently related to a Liver system malfunction, internal wind can also be caused by systemic dryness or malnourishment. Much like a dry tree, the brittle leaves at the top rattle in the wind.

Wind can also be external, affecting the outer layers of your body, which is the pathogen behind everyday colds, flu, allergies, and viral infections. In addition, the cause comes from your inability to fight off outside “influences”, such as viruses, bacteria, and pollen. True to its nature, the wind associated with a cold tends to affect the upper part of your body and move around—first you have a sore throat, then your nose is stuffed up, and then your cold sinks into your chest. External wind can also cause itching, hives, and rashes.

External wind tends to be associated with your Lungs, which encompasses your respiratory system and skin. In Chinese medicine, your Lungs are considered the most external of your organs, because with every breath, you come into contact with the outside world. So, external wind tends to affect the outermost part of your body—your Lungs and skin.

External wind usually teams up with other pathogens, such as heat, cold, or dampness. For example, if you have the flu with an extremely sore throat and a high temperature, you have external wind plus heat. If you get a cold that makes you feel achy and chilled, you likely have external wind plus cold.

Treatment for wind conditions depends entirely on the circumstances. Is it internal or external wind? Has it paired with other pathogens? What’s causing the wind in the first place? Your acupuncturist needs to take all of these factors into consideration before developing a treatment.

Because internal wind conditions tend to be caused by depletion, a treatment plan would entail building up the depleted substance(s), such as Yin, Blood, or Qi (energy), which would ideally relieve the symptoms of wind. This would likely be done using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, choosing the right foods, and getting adequate rest.

If you’re suffering from external wind, acupuncture combined with herbs would be a likely treatment protocol. For early stage external wind, when you feel like you’re coming down with something, you can sometimes head it off with herbs you have at home. Boil grated ginger and chopped scallions in a cup of water. You can add a little broth or flavoring if you like. Drink it down, wrap yourself up, and go to bed. The idea is that these warm herbs open your pores, causing you to sweat, which expels external wind.

Chinese Medicine for Asthma

If you suffer from asthma, you’re no stranger to the shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing, and wheezing that go with this condition. Over 16 million adults and 7 million children in America suffer from asthma, and it kills about 5,000 people a year.

Asthma occurs because the airways in your lungs tighten, become inflamed, or become filled with mucous. Asthma symptoms may be frequent or occasional, and they may be mild, severe, or even life threatening.

In Chinese medicine, there is always some element of phlegm associated with a diagnosis of asthma. In fact, the Chinese use the term “abiding phlegm” in talking about asthma, meaning that even when you’re not having symptoms; phlegm is always an underlying cause of your condition. In Chinese medicine, asthma may be caused by the environment, strong emotions, poor diet, stress, overwork, and being depleted by chronic illness.

There are a number of underlying patterns, or Chinese medical diagnoses, that are associated with asthma. A couple can be by-products of a bad cold or flu, in that the asthma flares up when you’re is sick. The patterns include:

Wind/Cold. This is the kind of asthma you get when you have a cold and it sinks into your chest, making it hard for you to breathe. Typical symptoms include a headache, aches and pains, a low grade fever, mild chills, a sensation of feeling cold, chest tightness, and coughing of thin, white phlegm. While this pattern is usually associated with a cold or the flu, it can occur without your ever being sick. In that case, allergies, cold air, wind, or even exercise may be triggers.

Phlegm Heat. If you don’t get over your cold right away, your chest may remain congested and you may wheeze and cough up thick yellow phlegm. (Gross!) Inflammation or infection is a player in this pattern, so you will also feel hot and thirsty, you may run a fever, and feel dry and constipated. Again, this pattern doesn’t necessarily have to be the by-product of a cold or the flu. There are some people who have asthma that is hot and inflamed all the time whose asthma would also fall under this pattern.

Lung Deficiency. This tends to be a less severe form of asthma. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a weak voice, a forceless cough, wheezing, sweating (not necessarily associated with feeling hot), and thin white or clear phlegm. Lung deficiency sounds exactly like what it is—weak lungs.

Kidney Deficiency. How could your Kidney have anything to do with asthma? Well, your Chinese Kidney is associated with your body constitution, the strength of your health, how well you age, and the strength of your energetic reserves. A weak Kidney system is associated with an overall depletion of energy; you’re run down. This is the type of asthma that is frequently triggered by exercise, exertion, or cold. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, difficulty inhaling, fatigue, feeling cold to your core, and cold extremities.

Treatment for asthma, according to Chinese medicine is two-fold. During the acute stage (an asthma attack), the first order of business is to calm the attack and promote smooth respiration. This would be done using acupuncture and herbs. It needs to be said here that if your asthma is not under control, an attack is serious and could even be life-threatening. This means that you need to be under the care of a doctor who can prescribe medications, usually as an inhaler, for emergency attacks.

The second level of treatment is to alleviate the underlying cause of your asthma when you’re not having symptoms. For example, if Phlegm/Heat is causing your asthma, then treatment would focus on reducing or drying the phlegm and clearing your heat. Again, a combination of acupuncture and herbs, combined with food therapy and lifestyle changes would be used.

A few tips that may be helpful in controlling and alleviating your symptoms include:

-Avoid triggers that cause your symptoms. These may include cold, exercise, allergens, and certain foods.

-Stay out of smoky rooms.

-If you also suffer from heartburn, know that a flare up can aggravate your asthma. Deal with the heartburn to help your asthma.

-Keep your neck and chest warm, especially if cold is a trigger for you. Wear a scarf; they’re fashionable even if it’s not winter.

-Take it easy on the dairy products. They tend to produce phlegm.

-Try breathing exercises. Take a Yoga, Tai Qi, or Qi Gong class. Otherwise, breathe to a 4-7-8 count. Inhale to the count of 4, hold to the count of 7, and exhale to the count of 8. Do a set of 4 a couple of times a day. Personal note: Breathing exercises completely alleviated my exercise-induced asthma.

-It’s great to go the alternative medicine route, but don’t be stupid. Use your inhaler if you’re having an attack.

-If you get caught without your inhaler, try some caffeine. It acts like the asthma drug Theophylline. Also, a cup of coffee or tea before your workout may also keep exercise-induced symptoms under control.

-Try some Vitamin B6. 50 mg. a day may help with the severity of your symptoms.

-Keep in touch with your lungs. This is so touchy-feely, but it’s important to recognize patterns so you can head off an attack. (Like pain, it’s much easier to manage if you try to control it early.) See your doctor if your symptoms seem to be getting worse or harder to control.

Acupuncture for Panic Attacks

If you have ever had a panic attack you know how scary it can be. First, your attack seem to come out of nowhere—unexpected and unprovoked. Second, the mere idea of having another one in the future is enough to produce disabling anxiety.

In the throes of your first panic attack, you’re sure you’re dying right here and now, and for good reason. The symptoms of a panic attack can include a rapid or pounding heart, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, paralyzing anxiety, sweating, shaking, and hot flashes. If you’ve ever had a panic attack, it’s clear—you don’t want to experience another.

So what’s happening during a panic attack? Your body is experiencing the fight or flight response, but on steroids. Your adrenal glands are pumping out hormones, including adrenaline, and the physical sensation of overwhelming fear is similar to being in sudden and immediate danger.

There are a number of theories as to why people suffer from panic attacks. There may be a hereditary component, and triggers may include a major life transition, illness, stress, and medications that increase activity in the brain related to fear reactions.

In Chinese medicine, there are three organ systems that are related to panic attacks; the Heart, Spleen, and Kidneys. The Heart is home to the Shen, or the spirit, according to Chinese theory. Its function is similar to the brain in Western thinking. As such, the Heart is the home to consciousness, memory, emotions, and thinking. Whenever someone suffers from any kind of emotional upset or condition, the Heart is always involved.

The Chinese Spleen is an organ system of digestion. It sifts and sorts what has been ingested, takes what is useful and turns it into nutrients, and gets rid of what is not needed. While the Spleen primarily digests foods, it also plays a role in the sifting and sorting of ideas. The emotion associated with the Spleen is worry—essentially, not being able to sort through and let go of unnecessary ideas. Worry is a kind of unhealthy rumination. When it gets out of control, worry can produce anxiety and fear—the foundation of panic attacks.

Finally, the Chinese Kidney also plays a role in panic attacks in two ways. First, the emotion related to the Kidney is fear, which is the underlying component of panic. Secondly, the Kidney is the deepest and most nourishing of our organs. It’s responsible for how well you age, your underlying body constitution, and is the source of all the fundamental substances in your body. Your Kidney is the organ system most damaged by stress and anxiety. The Western condition of adrenal fatigue (from stress, anxiety, overwork, etc.) correlates to a severe Kidney depletion in Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture can offer a number of strategies to help someone suffering from panic attacks. An acupuncturist would work by first calming your Shen, relieving anxiety, and minimizing stress. This is an effective first line of defense, as research has documented the positive effects acupuncture has on brain chemistry. This effect accounts for the relaxing and calming sensation patients feel both during and after their treatments.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine might also address your panic attacks by nourishing your Spleen and restoring your Kidney health. Beyond acupuncture, you may be prescribed an herbal formula, some dietary suggestions, and strategies for stress relief.

Finally, some practical advice if you suffer from panic attacks:

Realize that your body cannot sustain this mega-fight or flight response for more than a few minutes. It will pass.
When you’re having a panic attack, you might think the best thing to do is sit down, relax, and let it pass. However, if you get up and move around, go for a walk, do some jumping jacks, your body will metabolize the adrenaline faster.
Avoid caffeinated drinks and any other foods that you think might trigger an attack.
In almost every instance, stressful situations or circumstances are at the core of anxiety and panic conditions. Do what it takes to get your stress under control. Take regular walks, meditate, go fishing, take a Yoga class, play video games, change your circumstances, or whatever else it takes for you to eliminate stress.
Seriously consider acupuncture. It can be a very safe, effective, drug-free way to eliminate anxiety and panic attacks.

Improve Your Memory with Chinese Medicine

Do you sometimes walk into a room and forget what you went there for? Have you ever drawn a blank on a close friend’s name? Do you routinely forget common words? If you worry that your memory is going, join the club. These little episodes are embarrassing and frustrating, but are you on the fast track to Alzheimer’s? Probably not.

Memory loss can the result of a number of factors, the most common of which is your age. However, hormonal changes, diet, stress, and simply trying to do too many things at once can also mess with your memory.

There are a couple of organ systems in Chinese medicine that are related to memory. The first (that I can remember) is your Heart. The Chinese Heart is home to your consciousness, spirit, feelings, thoughts, and…yes, your memory. Memory loss is one of the hallmark signs of a Heart disharmony.

Your Chinese Spleen is the organ closely related to digestion. Good digestion helps something called clear Yang to rise upward allowing for mental clarity. When your digestion is funky, you may experience fuzzy thinking and memory problems, along with digestive symptoms, such as heartburn, stomachaches, low blood sugar, gas, bloating, poor absorption of foods, and diarrhea or constipation.

The Kidney system is also a player in memory. One of the important functions of your Chinese Kidney system is how well and healthfully you will age. As you get older, your Kidney gets weaker as a matter of course, affecting everything from your hearing to the strength of your bones, and your mental function/memory. Along with aging, your Kidney also controls things like growth, sexuality, and reproduction. When women go through menopause, their Kidney system is affected, which is why memory seems to take an additional hit during this time.

So the question is: Can Chinese medicine and acupuncture help with memory loss? There is no simple yes or no, depending on the source of the problem. However, in many instances, Chinese medicine can help. For some people, memory problems are directly related to the amount of stress they’re experiencing, and in others, the memory issues began as part of menopause. For older adults who are beginning to show the signs of senile dementia, it may be too late to reverse their memory loss.

According to Chinese medicine, there are some things that you can do to safeguard your memory. This includes:

-Simplify your life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, your brain is full. At a certain point, you just can’t hold onto any more details, so you start to forget them.

-Jettison the stress. Stressful situations cause you to be preoccupied, making it difficult for you to remember anything except details about what’s stressing you out. Do whatever it takes, whether it’s steps to resolve the stressful situation, or a Yoga class, meditation, taking up a hobby, or carving out quiet time to yourself.

-Eat good food. It sounds simple, but it’s not always so easy when you’re running from meeting to meeting or getting your kids from one activity to another. Sometimes the only solution seems to be something quick—and not so good for you. Take the time to plan what you’ll eat, and bring it with you if necessary. Good food is whole food, unprocessed, whole grains, lots of vegetables, and a little protein, with very small amounts of red meat, if any. Ditch the sugar, as it messes with your blood sugar levels and can be a direct contributor to fuzzy thinking. Remember the Twinkie defense?

-Digest that good food you’ve eaten. Take the time to sit down and eat. Chew your food and sit up straight. In addition, cooked foods tend to be easier to digest, and ice cold foods and drinks bring your digestion to a halt.

-Protect your Chinese Kidney. How? Well, slow down, for one. Overwork can be a direct cause of illness and depletion in Chinese medicine. Also, excessive partying, while fun, weakens your Kidney system and sends you into your senior years in less than optimal health.

In addition to Chinese medicine, Western doctors and scientists are looking for ways to protect memory as we age. They have been conducting research on memory and the various factors that may help slow memory loss. Among them:

-Get moving. Data from a study that began in the 1930’s shows that moderate exercise (as little as two times a week!) can lower your chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

-If you’re a smoker, quit now. While you can’t completely undo the damage in terms of degeneration to your brain, the sooner you quit the better.

-Drink green tea. Results from a 2006 study indicate that as little as a cup or two a day of green tea, which is packed full of antioxidants, can cut your risk of cognitive problems by 50 percent.

-Make lists. Memory lapses can be the by-product of simply trying to do too many things at once. At a certain point, your brain just can’t hold any more details. Make lists of the things you want to do or remember to get rid of some of that brain clutter.

-Play mind games. Crossword puzzles, soduku, trivia quizzes, or even learning a new skill or language can keep your brain exercised and can slow memory loss.

The good news here is that small changes can be enough to yield big results as long as you keep them up. A few cups of green tea, acupuncture to relieve stress, exercising a couple days a week, and moderate changes in your diet can be enough to lower your risk of age related memory problems.

Tips for Healthy Aging

We all want to live a long time, just as long as we can stay relatively healthy. Unfortunately, more and more often when we get together with friends, talk turns to a recent colonoscopy, cholesterol medications, or acid reflux. While there are no guaranties, there are some things you can do to stack the deck in your favor in the healthy aging game.

Here is a list, in no particular order, compiled from what we’ve learned from our patients, Chinese medicine, the scientific community, and some just plain common sense:

1) Eat for good digestion. In Chinese medicine, your digestion is every bit as important as what you’re eating. You can eat the healthiest foods on the planet, but if you don’t digest them well, you might as well be doing the drive through at Burger Doodle. Slow down, chew your food, and avoid the rich and greasy chow. Choose more cooked vegetables than raw, and go easy on the frozen foods and drinks.

2) Laugh. It feels good, it’s invigorating, and actually releases chemicals in your brain that are good for your health.

3) Go outside. Get in touch with the nature around you. This is the foundation of Chinese medicine, in which the natural world is reflected in your body. Slow down in the winter, eat new green shoots in the spring, be especially active in the summer, and check out your locally harvested produce in the fall (well, all year round.) Know also, that extreme weather conditions have the ability to make you sick, whether it’s a dry sore throat in the fall or heat exhaustion in the summer.

4) Quit smoking. This is a no-brainer. It may seem obvious, but if you’re a smoker, quitting now is the single most important step you can take to improve your health and increase your life span.

5) Make sure you’re getting enough Vitamin D. Vitamin D may sound like the magic supplement du jour, but D boosts immunity, helps with depression, and offers a whole host of health benefits. And most of us aren’t getting enough. You can get your serving of D through 15 minutes of direct sunlight, or by supplementing with Vitamin D3. Those of us who live far from the equator may not be able to get adequate D from the sun year round. So think about supplementing if you own and use long underwear more than a few times a year.

6) Exercise. I can’t say this enough. It’s the fountain of youth if there were such a thing. Physical activity keeps your heart and lungs in shape, your muscles toned, your bones strong, your butt tight, and studies are indicating that it also may slow or reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

7) Exercise your mind, too. Play word games, do puzzles, or learn a new language. The adage “use it or lose it” also applies to your mind.

8) Change the behaviors that are making you sick. You know that stress, junk food, and toxic relationships aren’t good for you. If you want to feel good and live long, now’s the time to jettison those negatives in your life.

9) Stand up straight! Poor posture can mess with your digestion and breathing, and can give you back and neck pain. Stand and sit tall; your body will thank you.

10) Get enough sleep. Your body rejuvenates, heals, and recharges while you sleep. Go to bed with enough time to get seven to eight good hours. Slow down before trying to sleep. If you struggle with insomnia, get some help. Ahem…acupuncture is pretty effective in treating sleep problems.

11) Get regular health screenings. You can laugh all you want at your friends’ colonoscopy stories, but you had better be keeping up with your own. Make sure you’re getting regular mammograms, Pap tests, blood pressure checks, mole screenings, etc. based on the guidelines for your age and risk factors.

12) Calm down. The Chinese say that the emotions are the cause of 100 diseases. That means that staying angry at your obnoxious neighbor or stressing out about a nosy co-worker will only make you sick. Do whatever it takes to defuse and de-stress.

13) Almost anything is okay—in moderation. According to Chinese medicine, a little sweetness may help your digestion, but eating a half of a cheesecake is a toxic food bomb. In the same vein, the right amount of exercise is good for you, but too much can cause your body to break down. Too much of anything over time can be damaging, so aim for variety.

14) Garden. Whether it’s a stretch of your back yard or containers on your balcony, growing your own vegetables outside is beneficial on so many levels. You’re getting the best kind of exercise, you’re connecting with nature, you’re growing your own organic food (if you lay off the pesticides), and you have the joy of going out your door to pick something you’ve grown yourself.

15) Get in touch. Connect with your sense of purpose through journaling and self-exploration, connect with others in social situations, and connect with the divine through prayer and meditation. In Chinese medicine, connection feeds your heart, which is the home to your soul.

16) Eat for the long run. Eat breakfast, don’t skip meals, and get a little protein at each meal. Try to get a variety of colorful foods into your diet each day, especially the darkly colored fruits and vegetables. Strive for a diet made up of lots of veggies, some whole grains, a little protein, a little fruit, and small amounts of everything else (Okay, maybe not hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup, but mostly every thing else.)

17) Just breathe. Breathing deeply opens up your lungs, oxygenates your brain for mental focus, and wards off fatigue and anxiety. In Chinese medicine, your lungs are an important component in immunity, so strong and healthy lungs translate into a strong ability to fight off colds and flu. Try taking a deep breath to the count of four, holding it for the count of seven, and releasing it to the count of eight.

18) Just say no. The ability to prioritize your life and say no to some of those annoying and unimportant things you don’t want to do and don’t really have to do is incredibly freeing. It helps decrease that stressful feeling of being overwhelmed, which can be exhausting and depleting.

19) Cultivate compassion. By being kind to others, you’re being kind to yourself. Kindness is embodied by generosity and service to others. Compassion and kindness dissolve anger, annoyance, and competition—all feelings which diminish both the quality and length of your life.

20) Cook and eat with joy. It has been said that how you approach food mirrors how you approach life. Do you approach eating and life with joyfulness or do you worry about every little thing you do and eat? Lovingly prepare your meals, sit down, and share them with people you love—as often as possible.

21) Listen to your body. Your body is infinitely wise. It knows what it needs, how to heal, and how to signal you when it’s in trouble. Listen to those little signs; headaches at work, an upset stomach when you’ve eaten poorly, an achy lower back, or fatigue.

22) Indulge in your passion. This is simple. Figure out what you like to do and figure out how to do it more often.

23) Go green. The cosmetics you put on your body and the products you use to clean your home have the ability to either enhance or harm your health. Become savvy about what’s in your shampoos, lotions, bathroom cleaners, etc., and if the ingredients are sketchy, find cleaner, greener alternatives.

24) Live in the moment. We spend most of our time rehashing the past or fixated on some future event. The reality is that the only moment that’s real is right now. Impatience means that we’re anxious to move onto the next thing—the next moment; however that next thing is a moment like this one. Slow down and enjoy right now.

Twenty Weight Loss Tips You Can Live With

Do you have certain articles of clothing in your closet that seem to shrink every winter? They fit when you wore them the previous summer, but after a long winter, does every pair of shorts you own betray you by not getting past your hips?

It’s hard to admit that you may have had a hand in this, and your clothes may not actually be shrinking over the winter. It may be hard to own up to the fact that you’ve eaten a few too many acorns over the winter. And, rather than buy a whole new wardrobe, you may need to drop a few pounds.

While losing a few pounds may sound simple on paper, we all know it’s not easy. Most of us have tried to lose weight at one time or another—some of us actually are successful; some struggle with weight on a daily basis; and some have just given up. Through personal experience and by working with many patients who have figured out how to lose or maintain their weight successfully, here are our best weight loss tips:

Eat breakfast. Get up in time to have a breakfast that includes whole grains and a little protein; it’s the best way to get through the morning without hunger pangs, sugar cravings, and low blood sugar.
Plan ahead. You know you’re going to come home from work hungry. It’s a given that you’ll eat lunch tomorrow. It’s not that difficult to plan for those meals and have something healthy on hand. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy foods that you like. You can also make meals ahead of time and freeze them in meal-sized portions.
Watch what you’re drinking. For some reason, many people think that if they drink it, the calories don’t count. Think again. Fruit juice, alcohol, pop, lattés, and chocolate milk all have the potential to derail your weight loss efforts.
Make small changes you can sustain. While you may not be able to stick to a strict plan, you can cut out that pop you have every day with lunch. And while you may be too busy to get to the gym, you can take the stairs to your office on the sixth floor.
Think lifestyle, not diet. A diet is something you undertake for a limited period of time. When you reach your goal, you go off your diet. (And weight inexplicably reappears). However, if you think about making lifestyle changes, you will need to choose those that you can maintain for the rest of your life. This tip goes hand in hand with the one above—make only those changes that feel doable long-term.
Quit snacking. Or if you must snack, plan ahead and have healthy snacks on hand.
Pack your lunch. If you buy your lunch each day, you are eating one meal out of three in which you have no control over the ingredients, caloric content, preparation, portion size, or freshness. Think about it.
Get your emotions under control. Strong emotions, especially stress, cause an imbalance in a number of hormones in your body, including cortisol and insulin. These changes mess with how you metabolize food, cause you to gain weight around the middle, and cause cravings for those fat-laden sugar bombs that you always regret eating.
Get moving. Exercise is key to losing weight. It burns calories, relieves stress, helps you sleep better at night, and dampens your appetite. Bonus tip: Build muscle by lifting weights. Muscles burn more calories than fat.
Eat for good digestion. You may be eating the healthiest diet in the world, but if your digestion is funky, you might as well be ordering your meals at the McDonald’s drive through. If you have heartburn, gas, rumbling, bloating, constipation, loose stools, stomachaches, or nausea, your digestion could definitely be better. In Chinese medicine, poor digestion is one of the most common contributors to weight gain. The first step to better digestion is to slow down and chew your food. The second is to prepare your foods in a way that they will be better digested. Generally cooked foods, in the form of soups, stews, stir fries, and fruit compotes take less energy and are easier to digest than cold or raw foods.
Eat foods that are locally grown and in season. First of all, they taste better than something that’s been on a truck for the past week. Second, according to Chinese medicine, foods should be eaten during the season in which they are grown. For example, during the spring, your diet should be full of rich green shoots and baby lettuce. In contrast, during late summer and early fall, you should be eating the yellow and orange veggies, like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and corn. Trust me on this—it’s better for you.
East mostly vegetables and fruits with whole grains, a little protein, and small amounts of everything else. This is the ideal diet according to Chinese medicine.
There are really no bad foods unless you eat them all the time. We tend to label foods as heroes and villains, and sometimes try cut out entire food groups we perceive as unhealthy. However, we need fat in our diet; we need carbohydrates; and we need protein. So, while you may want to beat yourself up over that doughnut you had at yesterday’s staff meeting, in reality, once in a while won’t kill you, so get past it.
Exception to the above tip: Grease-laden fast foods.
Set attainable goals. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it can feel overwhelming to set a goal to lose it all at once. However, if you set a goal to lose ten pounds, and once that’s done, then lose ten more, you’re less likely to give up, and more likely to feel successful with each goal you reach.
Don’t go to a party hungry. Ditto for the grocery store and out with friends. In every situation, your hunger will derail all your good intentions, especially when combined with cocktails.
Eat foods that haven’t been processed to death. There are a couple of tipping points here. If you look at the label on the package and it lists more than ten ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Also, if the food is unrecognizable as to what it once was, put it back.
Try something new. Check out some new recipes, try a food you’ve never eaten, rethink your meal menus, and try a new grocery store or farmer’s market. It will bring you new motivation to eat more healthfully.
There is no magic bullet or miracle food. There are lots of good, healthy foods, but there is no one single food that you can eat every day that will peel off the pounds, give you boundless energy, immortality, and keep you disease-free. For those things (except the immortality), you need an assortment of foods, with their variety of nutrients.
Eat as many differently colored foods each day as possible. This is especially true for darkly colored foods. The colors in natural foods represent their inherent nutrients. Think red peppers, tomatoes, cherries, grapes, blueberries, dark leafy greens, yellow squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, black beans, sea vegetables, eggplant, white mushrooms, turnips, and brown rice. You can’t go wrong.

How Many Acupuncture Treatments Will I Need?

You’re ready to give acupuncture a try and want to find out a little more about what’s involved. One of the most frequent questions first-timers ask is how many treatments it will take to get better.

This is a good question. It’s a fair question, and you deserve an answer. Unfortunately any practitioner who gives you a definitive answer in terms of an actual number of treatments is not being entirely truthful; they’re guessing. For the truth is that there is no correct answer—everyone heals at their own pace.

In addition, a good practitioner should never tell you on the phone how many treatments they even think it will take for you to feel better. We don’t have a problem with an acupuncturist estimating, or even recommending a number of sessions as a course of treatment, but they have no business doing so until they’ve at least seen you in their office.

The issue here is that there are a number of variables in the healing equation, including the following:

-How long you’ve had the condition. If your elbow has been bothering you for twenty years, you most likely will take longer than the person who tweaked their elbow last week.

-The nature of your complaint or illness. Many conditions are quickly resolved with Chinese medicine, including stress, anxiety, digestive issues, PMS, and many types of pain. On the other hand, deep-seated chronic illnesses, such as autoimmune conditions may take much longer.

-Your general health. We have seen many young and healthy patients seemingly heal right before our eyes in a single treatment. However, older patients, those in really poor health, and those on numerous medications tend to need more treatments.

-Your commitment to getting better. What you do at home in between treatments can make a huge difference in how quickly you heal. If you implement your practitioner’s suggestions regarding dietary therapy, heating/cooling an injury, herbal formulas, and lifestyle changes, you can speed up your recovery dramatically.

So what do we tell prospective patients when they ask how many treatments they will need? Our best answer is that acupuncture is a therapy and while some people may heal very quickly—in a session or two, others will take longer. We advise them to give acupuncture a fair try, say three or four treatments, to see how they’re improving. At that point, we will have a better idea of how many treatments they will ultimately need to heal completely.

Help for Hair Loss

There is nothing worse than a shower drain full of hair, especially if it’s yours and it’s falling out fast. Or perhaps you run your fingers through your hair and come up with a handful. Your hairbrush is full and you’re finding stray hairs – lots of them – on your pillowcase. What’s going on?

Your hair is constantly falling out and regrowing, and most people lose an average of 50 to 100 hairs a day. However, if you’re noticing an increase in shedding or if your hair is noticeably thinning, you’re probably losing more.

Your hair grows in cycles during which it actively grows for about two to three years and then rests for a couple of months. During the growth phase, a hair generally grows about 1/2 inch per month. At the end of the resting phase, the strand of hair falls out and a new strand begins to grow. Noticeable thinning of your hair is due to an above average number of hairs resting at the same time.

In Chinese medicine, the Kidney organ system governs the hair on your head. The Kidney system is also responsible for body functions related to growth, fertility, menopause, and aging. As we get older, your Kidneys become weaker, and one way that weakness is reflected is through the health of your hair. Hair loss, gray hair, and unhealthy hair are all signs that your Kidneys could be a little stronger.

In addition, your Kidney system is one of the Chinese organs most deeply damaged by stress. The adrenal glands sit right on top of your Kidneys, and in Western medicine, adrenal fatigue is the direct result of unrelenting stress. Extreme levels of stress can cause your hair to prematurely go into its resting phase, causing hair loss and thinning.

Beyond stress, there are other reasons that your hair may be falling out. Among them:

Poor diet. Remember the season of Survivor (Australia) when Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s hair fell out by the handful? The contestants didn’t have anything to eat, and Elizabeth’s hair began to fall out as a result of poor nutrition. Extremely low calorie diets or a diet low in protein can cause your hair to fall out.

Hormones. Many women complain that once they went through menopause their hair became much thinner. The decrease in estrogen after menopause can be another culprit in hair loss. In addition, an imbalance in your thyroid hormones can raise the levels of a chemical called DHT, which causes your hair to fall out faster than normal.

Low iron. Iron deficiency is a common cause of hair loss. Low levels of iron decreases the level of red blood cells necessary for healthy hair follicles. Also, it’s possible to have low iron stores (ferritin), but not be anemic.

Medications. Some antidepressants, diuretics, and certainly chemotherapy can cause hair loss.

Health conditions. Scalp infections, frequently fungal in nature, can cause your hair to drop. In addition, diseases such as diabetes and lupus can be associated with hair loss.

Hair treatments. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but how you treat your hair can have a direct impact on the health of your mane. Harsh chemicals, tight braids or pigtails, and brushing too vigorously can damage your hair and scalp and cause your hair to fall out.

So what can you do if your hair is falling out? Make sure your diet is sufficient in protein and iron, to nourish your body and hair. Don’t supplement with iron unless you’re sure your levels are low. Check with your doctor if you think low iron or hormone imbalances might be to blame. Also ask your doctor about adjusting the dosage or changing your prescription if hair loss is a side effect of any medication you’re taking. If stress is the problem, work on coping using Yoga, meditation, visualization, acupuncture, and any other relaxation techniques that work for you.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine would deal with your hair loss by strengthening your Kidney system through acupuncture and the use of herbs. A common herbal formula for hair loss and premature graying is called Seven Treasure Formula for Beautiful Whiskers, which nourishes the Kidney and benefits the hair.

What Your Thirst Means

Most people never think about being thirsty. However, your level of thirst can offer up a lot of clues to your health if you know what to look for.

If you’ve ever been to an acupuncturist, you may be surprised to have them ask you whether or not you’re thirsty, and what you like to drink. In fact, when asked, many people have to stop and think about how to answer.

I have found however, that those people who are really thirsty won’t need to think about it. In fact, they look at me like I’m brilliant for knowing how thirsty they are. I have had a few patients who are so parched that they constantly chew ice chips or eat unthawed frozen vegetables to try to quench their constant thirst.

In Chinese medicine, being thirsty all the time, especially for cold drinks, is an indication of internal heat. That heat can come from inflammation, infection, fever, a blockage, or deficient Yin (the moistening, cooling aspect of your body). Other signs that you have heat may include restlessness, irritability, constipation, insomnia, and a rapid pulse.

The temperature of what you choose to drink can also tell a little bit about your internal landscape. While craving ice cold drinks is a sign of heat, wanting to drink hot tea or soup can be a sign that you are cold internally, and crave warm drinks as a way to warm up. Someone suffering from hypothyroidism, a metabolic disorder, is an example of internal cold, in which sufferers constantly feel chilled and struggle to warm up.

People who drink coffee in the morning aren’t necessarily cold and needing to warm up. They are, however, drinking coffee as a way to get their energy moving, which coffee does well.

People who drink liquids that are room temperature tend to be a fairly even temperature. If you think of your body as being pretty comfortable at room temperature, then drinking fluids that are a similar temperature means you’re not trying to warm up or cool off.

Occasionally, I will see a patient who is thirsty, but has no desire to drink. What? While this seems like a contradiction, it makes sense in Chinese medicine. Those people have internal heat which makes them thirsty, but they also have something called dampness, which puts them off drinking. Dampness is the result of poor water metabolism in your body in which fluids tend to pool. Edema, loose stools, yeast infections, obesity and a heavy feeling are all signs of dampness.

Knock Out Knee Pain

Are you one of those people who learn that you’ve overdone it by receiving a special delivery notice from your knees? Have you ever had a knee just go out and fold up like a card table? Maybe you’ve had a knee lock up, blow up, blow out, or just plain hurt. For knee pain sufferers everywhere, this blog’s for you.

Knee pain and problems are probably only second to back pain in incidence. If you have knee pain, you’re not alone; over 50 million Americans suffer from knee issues. The causes of knee pain are varied, and can stem from overuse, overweight, weak leg muscles, trauma, or deterioration from wear and tear.

Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for knee pain. In Chinese medicine, knee pain is a sign of stagnant energy. The Chinese believe that our body’s energy moves in pathways, and when there is pain of any kind, it means that the flow of energy is impeded. Knee pain or weakness can also be a sign that the Chinese Kidney system is weak. When this is the case, the pain in your knees is frequently accompanied by dull achy pain in your lower back. For a full explanation on the Kidney system and Chinese medicine, go here.

The good news with knee pain is that there are things that you can do to alleviate that pain and even prevent episodes in the future. Among them:

-Strengthen your leg muscles. The muscle groups that move your knees include your quadriceps on the front of your thigh, and your hamstrings on the back. To strengthen your quadriceps, start with some simple leg lifts: lie flat on the floor, keeping your legs straight, turn your right foot outward about 20 degrees. Lift your right leg off the floor a few inches, hold for the count of three and bring it down. Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50. Repeat with the left leg. For your hamstrings, you can do simple leg curls: begin either lying face down on the floor or standing, attach an ankle weight (start with one pound and work up) to your right ankle. Slowly bend your right leg at the knee 90 degrees hold for three seconds then slowly lower your leg back to your starting position. Repeat the set with your left leg. Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50.

-Go easy on the activities that are hard on your knees. Activities such as running, hilly hiking, and stair climbing aggravate knee pain because the movements involved forcibly push your kneecap against your thigh bone. Avoid any activities that aggravate your knee pain until you have strengthened your leg muscles and your pain has calmed down.

-Check out your shoes. Make sure you’re wearing the right shoes for you and your sport. In addition, look for signs of wear on the soles of your shoes and replace sports shoes frequently. Sales people at a good athletic shoe store can look at your gait and help you choose the right shoe for you—it’s worth spending a little more to not have knee pain.

-Lose a little weight. This is pretty self-explanatory – if you’re sporting some excess weight, it’s hard on your knees.

-Know when to brace and when not to brace. Wearing a knee brace can help stabilize your knee early on in the injury cycle. However, if you depend on a knee brace too long, you won’t build up the muscles that support your knee. Once you’re on a healing track, give the knee brace a rest so you can build up knee strength.

-Know when to check with your doctor. If you have injured your knee, if you notice swelling, your knee locking, giving out, or pain that goes beyond mildly achy, it’s time to get your knee assessed by your doctor. While these symptoms may be garden-variety knee pain, they can also be signs of serious internal damage to your knee.

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