Its very common for patients to find  practitioners of the Chinese Medicine to be zealots for nourishing, balanced, seasonal cooking and eating. The digestive system is our earth element, its often at the root of what causes disease and we can't stress enough how important it is!  The digestion of food, from a Chinese perspective, happens within the same system of the digestion of everything else we take in with our senses. That means, its very likely that your system is overloaded with input.  Most of us need to slow down, regulate and simplify.

 

Presented below are the broad health guidelines that almost everyone that walks through my office door can use. 

 

 

 

 

1. To Boost the Qi overall. Eliminate cold drinks and most raw and cold foods (for the time being at least)  in the winter sip warm beverages in the pm, always start the day with a glass of water and or warm tea or lemon water. I know this can be a big shocker to cut our cold drinks, but trust me! If you're seeking care, its likely that you're deficient in Qi, and these are the baseline recommendations for building it back. 

 

2. Get Nourished. Eat seasonally and locally, consider growing your own garden! Eat a variety of all 5 essential flavors, sweet (found in grains and vegetables) bitter, sour, pungent and salty

 

a. When healing the gut or other aspects of health, eat primarily cooked vegetables, soups and stews. When you go shopping really take the time to look at the produce, think about the season and choose what makes you feel alive. Drink fresh home made meat broth. Powdered collagen is good to have on hand to put into warm drinks, but nothing beats the collagen from real broth.

 

b.Please check this study if you've been on oral contraceptives long term "It has been shown that the key nutrient depletions concern folic acid, vitamins B2, B6, B12, vitamin C and E and the minerals magnesium, selenium and zinc. Most research has focused on the levels of these vitamins and minerals in the blood of women who take OCs compared to women who do not" Please note that if you are trying to get pregnant in your 30s, after long term OC use, a nourishing diet is crucial. 

 

c. Choose vegetables in a wide variety of colors. In Autumn and Winter go for earth element orange and yellow veggies like roots, squashes in the spring and summer, especially sauteed and steamed green veg. Year round consume cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, brussel sprouts, collards and broccoli, as they do a lot of work to help the liver process. Make a list of veggies you like, haven't tried and want to try and explore new recipes. If you eat meat, continue to, eat a mix of beef, chicken, pork and fish. 

 

d. Eat raw salad in late spring or summer only, after healing has happened if digestion is great. Consider soup for breakfast and consider adding fermented vegetables to your regular weekly meal planning. 

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3. If I’ve said you are blood deficient, in addition to the above, also add beets and dark leafy cooked greens and consider adding more red meat, liver and a strong source of gelatin, like bone or meat broth, or a high quality pasture raised beef liver supplement.

 

Get enough water, about 8 glasses a day, add minerals to it. Look at sources of magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamin b and d, try a liquid multivitamin, they absorb better, I like Floradix products. Hide chicken liver chopped up into meatloaf. 

 

4. If you eat meat, or I’ve asked you to eat meat, look for locally sourced, organic and pasture raised, the less corn an animal consumes, the less inflammatory it is.

 

5. If I’ve said you have dampness, eliminate damp causing foods, that means no dairy, processed white flour, sugar, shrimp, banana, juices especially, please note, butter doesn't count as dairy, usually a little cream in coffee is fine unless you have an extreme case. Try adding in daikon (its usually available at Whole Foods) and try pearl barley as a cooked grain, they both diminish dampness and congestion in the digestive system. 

 

6. If I’ve said eat yin tonifying foods, or you’re menopausal,  add dark berries, avocados, yams, eggs, nuts, especially walnuts, black sesame paste,  dairy (if not too much if dampness or allergy present). Look for cleanly sourced deep sea fish (tuna, snapper, mahi), but especially oysters. Drink warm tea at night. 

 

7. If you have constipation, add seeds, and focus more on getting enough water and fiber as well as exercise, the lung activates the large intestines, they are an organ pair in Chinese medicine, so try to walk at least daily. Green peas are a great source of fiber. Using the bathroom daily is crucial in balancing hormones.

 

8. If you have thyroid issues, cut gluten and limit cruciferous vegetables, if those thyroid issues are autoimmune, cut sugar and do an autoimmune diet.

 

9. If you have anxiety, depression, metabolic, endocrine or hormone imbalances, especially, this next section on blood sugar balancing, is for you:

 

a.Eat a savory protein rich breakfast, if you have coffee, have that with or after breakfast, not before, because on an empty stomach, coffee causes a spike in cortisol. Eat the same few foods every day for breakfast, think staples

 

b. Eat to lessen blood sugar spikes by having a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar 30 minutes before a meal, this reduces sugar spikes by 30%. Remember high stress causes sugar cravings, so go into stressfull meetings with protein in your tummy and have some more on the way out of them.

 

c. Eat meals this order: salads/pickled veggies and cooked veggies first, then meats/fish/proteins, then leave carbs for the end. Only have fruit or dessert, after a meal.

 

d. Always put a fat or protein on a carb, if you eat one as a snack. 

 

e Make half your plate veggies, a quarter meats and a quarter carbs, if you have a highly inflammatory condition, I usually suggest limiting or foregoing most carbs for a period of time.

 

10. If you have an inflammatory or autoimmune condition I may ask you to take some time away from grains and legumes. Consider either Gaps or Whole 30 for a month or two when we first begin our work together, you may need to continue that. In general grains and legumes are an important part of any balanced diet! 

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11. Move your body every day, walk, swim in the eno, dance, stretch, do Yoga or Qi gong (ask me for recs!) do Pilates (I also have recs).  

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12. Go to sleep by 10-10:30, be fast asleep by 11, get 7-9 hours of sleep. Make up for it with naps if you miss sleep. 

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13. In this practice eggs are a superfood, the best bread is home made sourdough, we have soup for breakfast, culinary and medicinal herbs are a weekly part of a healthy diet, water is filtered, we try to chew until food sweetens a bit, and dinner parties are great exercise, an essential part of life and food for the spirit~