Acupuncture uses the wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine to understand the patterns of health and disease. Diet, lifestyle, heredity and environment all play their part. The easiest of these to adapt and change is diet, yet we so easily get caught up in fads and punishing regimes, missing the point: Enjoyment!
Food for wellbeing: Our diet can affect everything from our physical to mental-emotional wellbeing. Acupuncture dietary therapy uses general rules and adapts to the person’s needs. These are laid out below.
Eating Well is more than just food: It’s not just about what we eat, but our relationship with food and the routines, cravings, associations and historical issues we have with it.
Acupuncturists look at the bigger picture: A good Acupuncturist will look at the patterns of any illness or disorder and see how much diet plays a role in it’s cause. Then making changes can help the healing process and prevent relapse; even prevent disease.
“Eat with a smile on your face”. You can be eating all the right things at the right time in the right way and still not be healthy if it is making you miserable!
The basic rules:
-Stop before you are full.
-Don’t skip meals.
-Don’t flood the stomach! Yes, have your two litres a day, just not at mealtimes!
-Concentrate on the food. – i.e dont stress and distract from the joy of eating! Don’t rush it!
-Avoid too many raw and cold foods – raw foods have their merits, but for some who feel
the cold, bloat easily and have sluggish metabolisms, porridge, soups and stews
are better than salads and muesli for example
Food for thought:
Listen to your body, not that little tyke in your head. Do listen to my basic guidelines but adapt them to your needs so as not to make eating a chore or source of stress and anxiety. When you visit my clinic, I will assess your individual needs and help you integrate the basic principles into your own lifestyle. I will also treat the faulty mechanisms that are hindering you getting the most from your diet.
Most of all, remember, ‘Eat with a smile on your face’!
