Nutrition

Chinese medicine has it’s own nutritional philosophy which parallels acupuncture medical theory.  The goal with each person is to balance heat with cold, dry with damp and upward movement with downward movement in the body.  Each patient is treated uniquely, according their own pattern of imbalance.  Some people have too much heat, others have too much dampness.  Chinese medicine has the tools to find the balance between all these factors.  

Chinese nutritional therapy follows the same philosophy.  For example one patient may have heat symptoms (like a red tongue, acne, flushed face, etc).  The nutritional advice for this person would be to consume more cooling foods and drink (like cucumbers or mint tea) and to avoid warming foods and drink (like spicy peppers or chai tea).  Another patient may come in with cold symptoms (like a pale tongue, fatigue, pale face, etc) and the nutritional advice would be the exact opposite as the patient with heat symptoms. 

Each person is treated according to their individual patterns of imbalance.  A person with a heat conditions who consumes warm foods would only feel worse.  This is why it is important to go to a well-trained professional who understands the subtleties and the finer points of Chinese medical diagnosis.