Ever thought that your morning muffin or stir-fry lunch contained not just sustenance, but healing properties? Ancient Chinese medical theory has ascribed certain energetics and functions to many common foods, that still remain true today. Such properties are very different from nutritional values (vitamins, calories, fats, fiber, etc), which came later in the evolution of the nature of food. Let’s take watermelon (Xi Gua) as an example of this idea: our analytical mind knows that this delicious fruit is sweet, refreshing and nutritious with its high water content and fiber. The energetics of this food according to Chinese theory are cooling and damp draining, and therefore can prevent heat stroke on a hot summer day and promote healthy water metabolism by ridding edema. A more relevant example for the winter season would be lamb (Yang Rou), which is warming to the system and promotes optimum functioning. 

Food therapy is considered to be the number one treatment in preventative care and healing therapy. In modern China, there are special restaurants where one can go to receive tailored medicinal meals. After a visit with the Chinese medicine doctor, a pattern diagnosis is ascribed which can then be brought to the chef at such a restaurant. Food will then be prepared in accordance with individual needs – to nourish, eliminate or course any given imbalance. This notion contradicts the idea that one particular diet is best for everyone, but rather tailors nutritional choices based on individual need. What may help one person lose weight and feel energetic, may not be the right fit for someone else. I had the fortune of experiencing this model for myself at the medicinal food restaurant across from the hospital during my one-year clinical rotation in Hangzhou, China.  

Chinese herbal medicine utilizes the combination of roots, barks, leaves, stems and berries to promote health and vitality.  It only makes sense that Chinese Herbal Medicine and Food Therapy often overlap, with many herbal ingredients ending up on typical supermarket shelves. The following is a delicious trailmix you can make at home, as your own “herbal formula prescription.” In addition to curbing hunger between meals, or giving an energy boost before a work-out, this mix is high in antioxidents, essential fatty acids and protein. From the Chinese perspective, it is nourishing to the kidneys; promotes mental clarity, memory function; improves libido, energy and digestion. Enjoy!

Herbal Trail Mix – Common Names with Chinese Names and Functions           

Goji Berries/Wolfberries                                    

Gou Qi Zi -Nourishes the kidney energy, enhances fertility, memory, and sexual function

Walnut Halves                                                          

Hu Tao Ren -Promotes brain function, mental clarity

 Black Sesame Seeds                                                      

Huo Ma Ren -Nourishes blood, improves vision and sluggish digestion.  Black sesame has the additional benefit of promoting lactation in breast-feeding women.

*I like Mrs. May’s Black Sesame Crunch Squares, they are slightly sweetened with honey that provides a great flavor and also aids digestion.

This post is a proud participant in the Kathleen Show’s Prevention Not Prescriptions Blog - a great place for other resources to stay healthy.

Reduce Cravings

Improve Energy

Alleviate Joint Pain

Reduce Muscle Fatigue

Regulate Blood Sugar Levels

Jump Start Your Metabolism

Regulate Hormone Function

Detoxify the System

Reduce Stress

It is that time of year again…for making those promises to ourselves that we have been putting off through the busy holidays. One of the most common New Years Resolutions is to lose weight, and it is also the least kept. Why? The culprit may be coming from a constitutional level. There are many factors that can cause excessive weight gain and an inability to lose weight such as undetected food allergies, stress, anxiety, depression, unstable glucose levels, or inflammatory responses such as arthritis, chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine offer time-tested remedies to help strengthen your individual system at the root level so that you can lose weight efficiently, and keep it off for good. Reducing cravings, improving energy, alleviating joint pain and muscle fatigue, regulating metabolism and reducing stress are just some of the added benefits of incorporating acupuncture and herbal formulas into your weight loss resolution.

Reducing Cravings & Addressing Addictions

Food provides us with an enormous amount of nutritional benefits, but also emotional benefits. Over time, dietary habits can be hard to break (mostly due to emotional ties). For this reason, typical dieting tends to lead to a common feeling of insufficiency and can ignite cravings and addictions we didn’t even know were there in the first place. Taking away food that the body (and mind) is used to enjoying often engulfs a person in a cycle of binging and obsession. Acupuncture can help on a neurological level to reduce cravings and stop addictive behavior. In fact, acupuncture is so successful at resolving addictions, many rehabilitation clinics across the country train their staff in auricular acupuncture to alleviate a variety of addictions. Although on its surface weight gain may not seem like “addictive behavior,” it most certainly can be the result of a habitual diet that the system has now become accustomed to and even physically dependent on. Trying to change our diets can be difficult, frustrating and exhausting.  Acupuncture can work at the root level to make this process positive, easy and successful.

Detoxifying the System

Carrying excess weight is often a sign that your body is not processing things efficiently or correctly.  The cause for this could be from a number of reasons, but a good place to start is a simple detoxification to cleanse the body of unwanted toxins and debris. Such a regimen would include Acupuncture to detoxify the liver, herbs to facilitate digestion and reduce inflammation and a diet modification to stabilize blood sugars and eliminate potential allergens. Although this diet modification can initially feel too limiting to maintain, that is because it is!  Detoxification is meant to provide a deep clean so that equilibrium can then be achieved.  For this purpose, our recommendations include whole foods so you feel satiated and a time-frame that is manageable based on individual assessment.

Giving Your Metabolism a Re-Boot

After a simple detoxification, we will help you continue finding the appropriate support  so your digestion can continue working at its best. Our bodies were designed to appropriately digest, distribute and eliminitate the nutrition we take in. The “storage” process that happens is the result of an ineffecient system. Whatever the root cause, acupuncture and herbs will help your digestion and metabolism get back on track and stay there – eliminating the yo-yo effect. Treatments will also help reduce your stress, which is known to cause elevated hormones (like Cortisol) in the body that cause it to hold excess weight. Once your digestion is up and running at its best, frequent acupuncture and herbs will no longer be necessary – your system has been nourished from the root up, yielding lasting benefits.

Emotional Health

Trying to lose weight under any circumstance causes stress. People handle stress in all different ways, and Acupuncture can help release tension in the body, ease feelings of depression and regulate mood swings accompanied by -or preventing you from- losing weight. Exercise will also release important endorphins in the body to help it deal with stress. However, many of the same reasons mentioned in the first paragraph of this post also inhibit many people from working out. Acupuncture and herbs can help help increase energy, promote restful sleep, and alleviate chronic muscle and joint pains that may be preventing you from keeping up with consistent exercise so you can get back on track.

Erin Hessel L.Ac offers time-tested natural remedies to help you lose weight & provide lasting health benefits.  Private, tailored treatments take place in a serene environment for optimum rejuvenation and results.   Call our office today for our 2010 Weight Loss Packages and Specials.

This post is a proud participant in the Kathleen Show’s Prevention Not Prescriptions Blog - a great place for othe resources to start your New Year off right and keep it going.