Nutritional Counseling

Diet and nutrition are fundamental to acheiving and maintaining optimum health. Chinese medical and philosophical literature repeatedly stress the importance of eating appropriate foods based on ones constitution, time of year and activity levels.

In this spirit, dietary recommendations are often given to patients as important adjuncts to acupuncture treatments. Herbal formulas can facilitate the transition to a healthier diet, boost digestion, and help with unhealthy cravings. 

Additionally, nutritional supplements are often incorporated to address deficiencies that occur from less than ideal diets.

The "Natural" Diet

From Chapter 22 of the Su Wen, “When one takes the tastes of cereal, fruit, meat, and vegetable in combination, it can invigorate the essence and nourish the vital energy.”

Supplements: vitamin D, vitamin B, and omega 3 rich oils such as flax and cod are important inclusions to the modern diet. Depending on the history of dairy and sodium use, magnesium and potassium are helpful in restoring proper ballance. Vitamin and mineral supplementation might also be considered for shorter durations depending on specific needs.

While acupuncture cannot replace exercise, or remove stressful events from our lives, it can act as an agent of change; facilitating healthful physiological processes that can jump start helathful regimes and alowing us to deal with the inevitable stressful episodes that occur.

Qibo

Inactivity is one of the four major risk factors for heart disease, on par with smoking, unhealthy cholesterol and even high blood pressure. In contrast, exercise improves strength, endurance, cardiovascular health and also helps control blood pressure.

Walking has to be the most fundamental human fitness activity and offers distinct fitness benefits no matter what shape you're in. The benefits of walking and exercise cannot be overstated.

Stress

Stress is associated with ingrained and immediate reactions over which we have no control. Contemporary stress tends to be more pervasive, persistent and insidious because it stems primarily from psychological rather than physical threats.

Unfortunately, the nature of stress for modern man is not an occasional confrontation with a saber-toothed tiger, or a hostile warrior, but rather a host of emotional threats that occur several times a day.

Our bodies still react with these same, archaic fight or flight responses. Repeatedly invoked, it is easy to see how they can contribute to many “diseases of civilization”.