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Diet

Disclaimer:

I am not a certified dietitian. Everything I write on my webpage and blogs is simply a suggestion. If you require medical help, you need to consult with a proper professional. If you are an alcoholic, a drug abuser, a heavy smoker, have diabetes, hypertension, or heart problems, or any other health issue, consult your physicians first.

Point of view expressed in the diet section is strictly based on Oriental Medicine and on my Japanese cultural background.

If any question, please write to me at japanacupuncture@yahoo.com.

Before We Begin:

About Ancient Chinese:

Ancient Chinese always emphasized on proper diet according to the seasons. They placed importance on diet more than an acupuncture treatment. This is understandable from an acupuncturist point view. Four out of regular twelve acupuncture meridian lines are for digestion (Spleen/Stomach and Gallbladder/San Jiao). Strengthen the Stomach has been a primary protocol for the Stomach School of acupuncture. Any marshal artist would know that his strength comes from the Dantien (Tanden in Japanese), an area about an inch and half below the navel. The strength only comes if he has good digestion which brings Qi, the energy.

What To Avoid According To Oriental Medicine:

Oriental Medicine is all about the balance and the moderation. You can eat anything you want as long as it is balanced. However, certain foods in the standard American diet (SAD), you want to take less or simply avoid.

One of them is processed cheese. Cheese is phlegm. According to Chinese belief phlegm is the cause of thousands of weird diseases (goiter for example). It creates stagnation in the body more than other foods. From a foreigner's point of view, it is easy to understand why many Americans are obese: simply, too much intake of cheese from childhood.

Second item in the SAD diet you want to avoid is greasy and oily food. They are hard to decompose, taxes the body system, and do not cleanse the body. They also create stagnation more than other foods.

Others like salty or spicy foods should be taken in moderation. The same is true for alcohol, coffee, and sweets. Avoid iced water or tea. We take too much cold drinks, hurting the digestive capability of the stomach.

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