Food Therapy
Diet is a major key in influencing health and disease and is often a treatment strategy overlooked and undervalued by practitioners. But the key to health and wellness is improving the quality of fuel (food) being consumed and eating foods that are metabolically compatible to your condition. Compliance with recommendations made by us can go a long way in supporting acupuncture treatments and herbal interventions.
Below is a list of basic dietary recommendations based on the principles of Chinese medicine. Refer to the list below and ask us the specific patterns that apply to your condition. Information provided is not meant to be diagnostic, cure, prevent, or treat any specific disease. The content is purely for informational and educational purposes.
Treatment of Deficient Qi
(Symptoms may include fatigue, weakness, lethargy, weakened immunity, shortness of breath, sweating on minimal exertion, dull thinking, pale complexion, and sensitivity to cold)
Eat
beef, chicken, lamb, fish, lentils, oats, rice, sweet potato, potato, shitake
mushroom, squash, yam, coconut, date, fig, cherry, grape, molasses, garlic,
ginger, leeks, string beans, sunflower seeds, papaya, honey
Avoid:
Chilled or raw food, salads, fruits and juices in excess. Avoid iced drinks and ice cream.
Treatment of Spleen Qi
Deficiency
(Symptoms may include gas, bloating, belching, water retention, lethargy, heaviness of the head and limbs, loose stools, constipation, difficulty gaining or losing weight, poor appetite)
Eat
cooked, warming foods like squash, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, yams, pumpkin,
rutabagas, turnips, leeks, onions, rice, barley, millet, corn, black soy bean,
oats, butter, almonds, peas. Eat
small amounts of chicken, turkey, mutton or beef, fish. Eat cooked peaches,
cherries. Add ginger, garlic, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper to
dishes. Only eat small amounts of
honey, molasses, maple syrup or sugar.
Avoid:
Chilled or raw food (including salads and raw fruit), juices, salsa, citrus,
tofu, milk, seaweed, cheese, peanut, excess sugar or salt. Avoid iced drinks
and ice cream.
Treatment of Deficient
Yang
(Symptoms may include loose, watery stools, cold limbs, sensitivity to cold, pain aggravated by exposure to cold, low body temperature, hypo-metabolic conditions, fatigue, and weakness)
Follow guidelines for deficient spleen qi. Include the following yang tonics in
the
diet:
basil, chestnut, chive, clove, dill seed, fennel, lamb, lobster, pistachio,
raspberry, garlic, mustard seeds, cinnamon, rosemary, sage, shrimp, thyme,
sweet potato, walnut.
Avoid:
Raw or chilled foods, and other foods which damage the Spleen Qi. Avoid melons, asparagus, seaweeds,
tomatoes, bamboo shoots, banana, tofu, grapefruit, lemon, peppermint, tofu. Avoid iced drinks or ice cream.
Treatment of Dampness
(Symptoms may include soft or loose stools, water retention and edema, heaviness of the head, muscles, and joints, feeling worse in damp weather, watery noises in the abdomen, stuffiness of the head, and a thickened tongue coating)
Follow
guidelines for deficient spleen qi.
Include the following foods that drain damp: anchovy, barley, corn,
millet, adzuki beans, garlic, mushrooms, mustard greens, chicken, alfalfa,
shrimp, scallions, rye, celery, corn, ginger, green tea, horseradish, kidney
bean, lemon, mackerel, onion, parsley, pumpkin, radish, rye, turnip.
Avoid:
Too much red meat, salt, sugar.
Avoid too much dairy or oily food, pork, too many eggs, sardines,
coconut, cucumber, duck, bananas, soybeans, tofu, spinach, pine nuts, peanuts
and peanut butter, juices, wheat, white bread, yeast, and alcohol (especially beer). Avoid iced
drinks and ice cream.
Treatment of Excess Heat
(Symptoms may include fever or feelings of heat, yellowish green discharges from the skin, eyes, and nose, loose stools or dry, hard stools with a foul odor, aggravations from alcohol, spicy, or fried & greasy foods, redness of the face, eyes, chest, head, and hands)
Eat
cooling foods such as asparagus, turnip, bamboo shoots, celery, banana, chicken
eggs, clam, eggplant, cucumber, pears, plums, tomato, grapefruit, lemon,
lettuce, carrots, millet, mung bean, kidney bean, peppermint, tofu, watermelon.
Include some raw vegetables and fruits.
Avoid:
Too much meat, sugar and dairy products.
Avoid spicy foods, fried food, chocolate, walnuts, salsa, most spices,
beer, wine, liquor, coffee, tobacco, garlic, onion, lobster, shrimp, eating
rapidly.
Treatment of Constipation
Foods
that lubricate the bowels: Alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricot, bananas, beets,
carrots, cauliflower, honey, oil, peaches, pears, pine nuts, prunes, raisins,
almonds, sesame seed, spinach, walnut.
Foods
that promote bowel movements: Asparagus, bran, cabbage, coconut, fig,
papaya,
peas, bamboo shoots, eggplant.
Flora-enhancing
foods: Alfalfa, greens, kefir, miso, sauerkraut, wheatgrass, yogurt.
Treatment of Loose Stools
Eat
warm and cooked foods. Soups (not
cream based), white rice, black
tea, cinnamon tea, barley, ginger tea, sweet potato.
Flora-enhancing
foods: Alfalfa, greens, kefir, miso, sauerkraut, wheatgrass, yogurt.
Avoid:
Raw, cold foods, coffee, excess fats and oils and spicy foods (in hot
conditions).
Treatment of Liver Qi
Stagnation
(Symptoms may include mental emotional signs such as frustration, irritability, and irascibility, feelings of fullness or distention under the ribs, cramping in the abdomen, irregular bowel movements, irregular menstrual cycles, aggravations of symptoms from stress)
Chicken
livers, celery, mussels and plums. Eat foods that regulate or move Qi such as
basil, bay leaves, beets, cabbage, garlic, ginger, leeks, peaches, scallions
and rosemary, radish, clove, coriander, turmeric, marjoram, mustard leaf,
cayenne, chive, saffron, sunflower seeds.
Avoid:
too much alcohol, coffee, preservatives and food additives, fatty foods, fried
foods, spicy foods, sugar and sweets.
Treatment of Yin
Deficiency
(Symptoms may include feelings of dryness, lack of sexual secretions, night sweats, hot flashes, constipation, and feeling parched & thirsty)
Include
pork, beef, chicken eggs, clam, crab, duck, oyster, sesame seeds, pine nuts,
rice, wheat, dairy products, kidney bean, black soy bean, black beans, yam,
green (string) beans, coconut milk, malt, mango, peas, pear, lemon, pineapple,
apple, peaches, avocado, tomato, melons, apricot, honey.
Avoid:
coffee, alcohol, spicy foods, tobacco.
Treatment of Blood
Deficiency
(Symptoms may include dryness of the skin, poor wound healing, bruises easily, anemia, dry & thinning hair, dry or hard stools, muscle cramps, feelings of dryness without thirst, blurred or weak vision, floaters in the visual field, postural hypotension, pale nails, tongue, and complexion)
Eat
chicken eggs, beef, lamb, goat, duck, chicken, pork, liver, oyster, mussels,
sardines, bone marrow, sesame (especially black sesame), sweet rice, dark green
vegetables, beets, spinach, winter squash, dairy products, black soy beans, black beans,
fig, date, raisins, grapes, molasses, raspberry and blackberry.
Avoid:
raw fruit and vegetables, cold liquids, ice or ice cream.
Treatment of Blood Stasis
(Symptoms may include numbness & chilliness of the limbs, stabbing pains, painful distended hemorrhoids, menstrual cycles with purple blood & clots, distended veins on the nose, cheeks, abdomen, and legs, purplish lips & tongue, and pains aggravated at night & from inactivity)
Eat
adzuki beans, beets, crab, eggplant, mustard leaf, watercress, peach, brown
sugar, basil, chive, onion, safflower, scallion, vinegar.
