Healing from the Inside Out
Looking at Food as Medicine
"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison."
~Ann Wigmore
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) operates on the belief that everything is connected. No symptom or pain in the body occurs in a vacuum-it's always related to something else, and there are both external and internal factors to take into account. In TCM, health is considered closely related to nature. As our bodies are organic, balance can be achieved by aligning our lifestyle and diet habits with the natural environment around us. Eating seasonal foods and altering our sleep patterns to correspond with daylight hours are some of the examples of living in accordance with the seasons. When it comes to nutrition, paying attention to the seasons and the environment that surrounds us is a powerful force of illness prevention.
Have you noticed that Eastern civilizations appear to avoid many of the pitfalls of diet-related diseases like colon cancer, obesity, and heart disease? The foods consumed by these "healthier" cultures are not only as natural as possible, but they also align with an area's seasonal produce... READ MORE |
Hold that Sneeze! Chinese Medicine for Fall Allergy Relief
When allergies strike, it can affect almost every activity you do-from your voice and breathing, to headaches, and how you approach your workflow, allergy symptoms can make it difficult to get through the day. One of the most common forms of seasonal allergies is allergic rhinitis, which affects the sinuses. Symptoms include sneezing, congestion, runny nose and red, itchy eyes. Western medicine typically prescribes antihistamines, decongestants, or drugs that act on the nervous system. Steps can also be taken to avoid the allergens altogether. While these prescriptions may be effective in treating the allergic response, they often have undesirable side effects, such as drowsiness, immune system suppression, or over-reliance on medications.
Holistic medicine like traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can offer a natural alternative to these Western approaches, one that doesn't include side effects. TCM strives to treat the whole person and recognizes that people with chronic allergies often show signs of other health imbalances like what's known as spleen or kidney deficiency, or even lung problems. TCM considers allergies or hay fever as a manifestation of wind invading the upper body. This occurs because one's qi (or energy source) has been weakened, which explains why a Chinese herbalist may address these allergies by building up the body's immunity and defensive qi...READ MORE
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Quote of the Day
"Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on."
~Eckhart Tolle
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