Chinese Food Therapy – Eat Foods That Heal Your Type

“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” - Hippocrates

To the Chinese, food is medicine.  We Americans rarely think of our food this way. We know we should eat well, but to think of food as a therapy to improve health isn’t something most of us are familiar with. How great to find out that by adding a few ingredients to our diets we can effect our overall health!

Chinese Medicine is based on the concept of yin and yang energies. Yin represents cool, inactive, dark energy and Yang hot, active, bright energy. Balance between the two means good health, imbalance leads to problems. The Chinese believe that all living things are made up of these energies, including food. You may notice that Chinese meals are very balanced energetically – if there is a spicy sauce, there may well be water chestnuts to “cool” the dish, for example. Because food has it’s own energy, it is used therapeutically in TCM, meaning eating the right foods for your type can improve your health, and even your fertility, improve digestion, reduce pain, and generally contribute to a more balanced body. Here are some suggestions based on common imbalances in the body. If you have:

Kidney Yin Deficiency

Symptoms include: Low back pain or soreness, knee soreness, hot at night or sweat at night, ringing in your ears, dark circles under your eyes, prematurely gray hair.

You Should Eat: Black beans, tofu, rice, kelp, parsley, wheat germ, string beans, shellfish, raspberries, walnuts, pork, yams, corn, watermelon, cucumbers.

Kidney Yang Deficiency

Symptoms Include: Low back soreness or weakness, cold feet, especially at night, tendency to feel cold in general, low libido, having to get up in the night to urinate.

You Should Eat: Warm, nourishing foods including organic meat at least twice a week, ginger, walnuts, dates, cabbage, kale, squash, garlic, cook with warm spices, peppers, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, etc.  make sure to cook your vegetables if you are Kidney Yang deficient and avoid icy drinks.

Spleen Qi Deficiency

Symptoms Include: Tired a lot, low appetite, bloated after eating, gas, loose stool, cold hands and feet, bruising easily, sweating without exerting yourself, getting sick often, feeling heavy or low energy a lot.

You Should Eat: Organic meat, rice, yams, pumpkins, cherries, dates, molasses, potatoes, mushrooms, avoid “cold” foods such as watermelon, cucumbers and others listed under the Kindney Yin Deficient diet. Cook your vegetables, and be sure to avoid refined sugars, white bread and pasta, fruit juice (too much sugar) and avoid too much dairy.

Liver Qi Stagnation

Symptoms Include: Depression, sighing a lot, tendency to feel angry or irritable, difficulty falling asleep, generally stressed and or short tempered, migraine headaches.

You Should Eat: Eat small meals, eat slowly and try to relax and be present while eating. Avoid heavy, stagnating foods like peanut butter, too much meat, foods with preservatives. Mint is excellent for the Liver Qi Stagnation type. Try to relax, while eating – and in general, don’t hold in feelings of anger or resentment, express them and leave them behind!

These are just things to keep in mind in the course of your overall balanced diet. Relax, let the mind stop thinking, chew your food well, and eat regular meals. And most of all, enjoy your food!

Moms’ Garden

Hi all. It’s another sweltering day in CT – 95 and humid, in June! I have a very sad looking little garden this year as I was focusing on fixing up our old house this Spring instead. But we do have some beans, tomatoes, even pumpkins for fall. My son has his own little garden which we walled off with big pieces of firewood, he is so proud of it and checks it several times a day I love to garden and while this isn’t entirely related to Chinese Medicine, I’m working on an idea that I just love….in its early stages of development in my crowded head, but here it is……..a shared “Moms’ Garden”. It’s so much work to have a really productive, large garden when you do it organically – weeding, watering, picking off bugs or making “green” sprays. It’s too much for me on a big scale with my 2 young children and my acupuncture practice. But my idea combines 2 things we all need more of – fresh organic food, and friends! Here’s how it would work….

Get together from 5-10 friends, find someone with a big sunny back yard or a community garden plot (a lot of towns have these), and plan out a decent sized garden – all the favorite veggies of the gardeners, herbs, flowers. Then divvy up the work – each person is responsible for just one day a week of tending to the garden. Ok, it’s just a co-op on a tiny scale, but it would be so fun. And those with children could bring them along, mine just love to help in the garden, though that is often kind of dangerous to the health of the garden But what a great learning experience for them. One day of watering, weeding, composting and whatever else needs doing, and then we all share in the bounty! Fresh salads, seasonal veggies well into fall, fresh flowers on the table all summer, Halloween pumpkins you pick yourself. All for one trip a week to visit the garden. And all the while building or strengthening friendships with some cool people. I love it. Might be too late this year, but this is definitely a plan to keep in the back of my mind and start growing over the long, cold winter when I dream of seeds and gardens!

Study Shows How Acupuncture Relieves Pain, Improves Fertility

Ground-breaking research has identified the link between specific acupuncture practices and effective treatment of severe and chronic pain conditions. The research conducted by physicians at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York appeared in a recent issue of Nature Neuroscience.

The study found that adenosine, a neuromodulator with anti-nociceptive attributes, is released during acupuncture treatments. A nociceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to stimuli by conducting nerve signals to the spinal cord and brain. The process itself is referred to as nociception and commonly results in the perception of pain. Lead investigator Maikin Nedergaard, co-director of Rochester’s Center for Translational Neuromedicine said, “We have produced the first evidence that acupuncture releases a natural pain-relieving molecule into the body. . . Adenosine is a key to reducing pain during acupuncture treatment.”

The discovery of the adenosine release explains the principles of acupuncture in western clinical terms and adds still more momentum to the mainstream acceptance of acupuncture in the United States.  Perhaps the principal reason for this momentum is growing appreciation of the efficacy of acupuncture for treating infertility.  Studies show that acupuncture patients have a lower miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy rate and a higher rate of live births than comparative non-acupuncture groups. In one randomized, double-blind study in Fertility and Sterility it was found that acupuncture improves implantation rates for in-vitro fertilization by 180 percent while discovering a significant reduction of gonadotrophins.

Home Herbalist – How To Make Your Own Tinctures

Tinctures are wonderful natural health remedies that have been used for centuries. The Chinese use them frequently as they are an easy way to get the medicinal qualities of an herb in a small container – easier than the bulky herbs used to make daily teas, though those are wonderful and will be posted about later! Making a tincture is incredibly easy and really fun. You can make a whole home herbal pharmacy. And they make wonderful, inexpensive and unique gifts!

A tincture removes the essence of the herb and stores it, preserving it in a solution of alcohol, so that a few drops can be taken to receive the therapeutic effect.

To Make A Tincture

1.   Place either fresh or dried herb of your choice (more on how to choose later) into a glass jar, amount based on how much tincture you want to make.

2.  Pour in alcohol (vodka is usually used). Any 80-100 Proof alcohol is fine but NEVER use isopropyl or rubbing alcohol. Pour enough to completely cover the herbs, any herbs sticking out above the alcohol might grow mold and you’d have to throw out the whole batch. Pour in a little water on top.

3.  Seal the jar tightly and shake.

4.  Place in a dark place. Let sit for at least 2 weeks, a month is best. More than that isn’t necessary or even helpful. Shake the bottle daily or every other day.

5. When ready, strain the contents by pouring them out over a layer of cheesecloth or similar strainer. Squeeze the herbs to release any last essence. Bottle the tincture in a dark colored jar – often used are amber colored bottles with a stopper available on line at places like

6. You’re done! Enjoy your home herbal remedy.

Other useful information

1.  Water can be used for non-alcoholic tinctures, you can add vinegar to help release the herbs’ essence.

2.  Tinctures stored properly can last for up to 2 years.

3.  A typical dose is 1 teaspoon 1-2 times a day, either straight or in water or tea.

4. When choosing which herbs to use, consult a book or website with information on loose herbs, for example acupuncture.com herbal section.

5.  Some really useful tinctures are:

* Ginseng (Renshen) for energy (use American ginseng if you tend to feel hot, have high blood pressure, sweat at night or get very hot at night. Also you might want to consult a doctor on this one as ginseng can be powerful).

* Astragalus (Hunag Qi) – excellent for boosting immunity for those who are run down or get sick often. This herb is used to boost immunity but it’s thought best to discontinue once you do get sick, and restart again once you’re well. The Chinese believe it will strengthen anything in your body, including your illness once you’re sick, hence stopping it during illness.

* Angelica Root (Dang Gui) – Used for centuries to enhance fertility by boosting the blood and regulating the menses. Also good to increase energy as it is thought to nourish the blood.

* Ginger (ShenJiang) – Great for arthritis pain. Ginger has been shown to inhibit of certain kinds of inflammation associated with arthritis. Great for joint health, relieving joint stiffness and pain. Also excellent for chronic digestive complaints.

What’s so exciting is that there are hundreds of herbs that can help with just about any kind of health issue. Have fun and feel good!

Summer Solstice! Longest Day of the Year!

It’s the longest day of the year. The Chinese celebrate Li, the Goddess of Light, on this day. This is one of my favorite nights of the year. It is considered a sacred time when the sun is worshipped and the door between the “other world” of magic and fairies opens for a night (Halloween is another mini-solstice, an equinox and that’s why we believe the world of the dead is closest on that night). Summer solstice pagans believe that fairies visit the earth at dusk tonight and bring wisdom and joy to those that welcome them.

Herbal remedies for today are taken from Wiccan herbal medicine as it is a pagan day of celebration.

First of all, light a huge bon fire. Or if that’s not practical, if you aren’t living on a farm or next to a hill in rural Scotland, light a candle. The flame is believed to bring the energy of the sun to your land or in to your home, like a blessing.

Ritual Solstice bath. Tie in cheesecloth the following herbs: bay leaves, chamomile, rosemary. Place in a hot bath and steep it until the essence of the herbs is infused. This is a cleansing bath that also recharges you for the upcoming season. Your candles recharge your home and clear it of any negative energy.

Enjoy the slowness of this long day and short night, hot weather and sacred pagan holiday!

Father’s Day Treat(ment) – Best Points and Herbs for Men

Happy Fathers Day! To all the men out there, you don’t have to have kids to be a father figure/mentor/role model and that’s what counts!

In Chinese medicine, the male is the Yang energy – active, hot, bright, represented by the sun. (The woman is the yin – still, cool, represented by the moon). This is as it should be. But sometimes men can end up with a bit too much Yang energy – which is especially true with men who work to much, exercise too hard, have too much stress in their lives – hmmmm, sounds like most American men So, here are some herbs and some points specifically chosen to help soothe the man, and add some calm, cool, relaxation to his day.

Herbs for Men:

Mint (BoHe in Chinese Medicine) – Mint is available as a tea at any supermarket. Or you can chew on fresh mint leaves – nature’s gum! Or cook with it. Mint is cooling and calming. It helps reduce stress, ease headaches, soothe digestion and generally calm the savage beast.

Wolfberry (Goqi Zi) – Yummy little red seeds, they taste delicious right out of the bag – available at herbal stores or online. They tonify the yin and are good for men with low back pain, tendency to feel hot, especially if they get hot at night or have night sweats, ringing in the ears, knee pain, high blood pressure (not a treatment for it, but good to help balance the body) or headaches with any of the “heat” signs.  Especially good for men as they age and often get more and more yin deficient.

Acupuncture Points

My favorite combo of points for men is called the “4 Gates”. You can put strong pressure on these points to give an acupressure treatment. The 4 Gates are one point on each hand, and one on each foot. The point on the hand is called LI4 and is located on the mid point of the top of the fleshy mound between the pointer finger and thumb. The point on the foot is Liver3, it’s located between the big toe and the one next to it, the tender spot in the web just between the toes. When you rub these points at the same time it helps to soothe the body and mind, relieve tension, reduce pain and can even help heal headaches and insomnia.

Hope the men out there can benefit from a little healthy treatment!

For The Cold Ones Among Us – Food Therapy TCM Style

Short post as my 2 toddlers are finally asleep and I am soon to follow. But I had a client yesterday who has a common issue – cold all the time, even in mid summer, likes the heat up to 85 in winter. Cold hands and feet. Just an all around icicle. So there are some foods that can help with this. Some you’ve heard of, others are general diet ideas. Here they are:

Ginger – a great Chinese ingredient that warms the digestion and is proven to aid digestion. You can use it as a tea (buy fresh ginger root, cut a few thin slices and steep it in boiling water for a few minutes. Add honey if you need to), or grate some over whatever you’re cooking. Great for warming the Yang, your internal fire.

Any hot spice – red or black pepper, cayenne, chili, curry, cinnamon, nutmeg. Any warming spice or herb will actually warm your digestion and help to warm the body.

Avoid salads – Yes folks the Chinese have a different take on salads. Raw food is very hard on digestion and raw salads are very “cold”, especially with things like tofu, raw broccoli, etc. Poor digestion! At least steam all your food for a few minutes before eating. It breaks down the food to aid digestion, and will help to warm your yang.

Avoid icy drinks, especially in winter. Ice in a soda in January. That’s just asking for trouble. Room temperature is best, or warm tea.

Red meat is warming, very yang. In moderation of course. Lamb is considered the warmest meat. Good for building your blood too. Lamb curry – double the heat!

There it is. A few quick tips for warming those of you who remain cold on these gorgeous hot June days. My sister is one of them, layered up year round! Hopefully you’ll find some helpful tips to melt the chill and feel your inner fire rekindled. Good night!

Heal Yourself – 5 Acupuncture Points For Everyday Problems

Here’s a great way to help take care of your body naturally – acupuncture has been around for over 2,000 years, possibly as long as 5,000 years. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on the idea that the body is full of energy, or Qi (chee). When the Qi is in balance, there is health. When the Qi is out of balance, there is illness. Qi is made up of Yang Qi – the warm, bright, active energy, and Yin Qi – the cool, dark, still energy. Keeping these energies in balance is what keeps the body in health. Qi is kept strong and vibbrant through eating regular, healthy meals, breathing healthy air, getting moderate (though not super hard American style) exercise, and not living with too much stress and overwork. Not easy in our modern American life. But when our bodies do get out of balance, acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help restore it by shifting the energies, strengthening some parts of the Qi, and taking away excess from others. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs restore the body to balance so that it can heal itself.

Here are 5 important acupuncture points you can use to treat yourself at home.

Stomach 36 – located below the knee, about 3 inches below the little depression in the outer side of the knee. About1 inch to the side of the shin bone.

This is one of the most important points on the body. It is very important for overall health and it is believed in China that every person over 50 should press this point every day. It has been shown to lower blood pressure. It has also been proven to boost immunity by actually  boosting the white blood cell count in the body. It helps treat digestive problems including constipation, gas, gurgling stomach. And is good for raising your energy level. Overall it would be beneficial to everyone to press on this point every day.

LI4 - located on the hand in the center of the web between the pointer finger and the thumb. It will feel tender when you press on it.

LI4 is excellent for pain anywhere in the body. It is even used in China during surgical procedures to lessen the amount of anesthesia needed! It is good for treating arthritis pain, toothaches, headaches, and stress.

Liver3 – located on the foot at the tender spot just below the web of the big toe and the toe next to it.

When pressed together with LI4 this combo is called the 4 Gates. It is believed to open the gates of all the body’s energy so it can flow freely and restore balance. It is good for treating migraines, stress, acid reflux and digestive problems caused by stress.

Spleen 6 - located on the inner side of the lower leg. About 3 inches above the inner ankle bone, just at the lower edge of the shin bone.

An extremely important point for digestion, boosting energy, nourishing the blood, and overall health. Helps heal fatigue, gas, IBS. Also helps stop a mind that is always worrying and helps allow deeper more restful sleep.

Yintang – located between the eyes, in the center of the space between the eyebrows.

All about relaxation. A very powerful point. Press this point, take a deep breath and relax!

There are over 500 acupuncture points on the body. While it’s not the same as a professional acupuncture treatment, you can help your body in many ways by practicing acupressure on yourself. Look up a book on TCM and start to explore the many possibilities of healing yourself naturally!