Nutritional Guidance

In order to get the most benefit out of acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine, the importance of a proper diet and lifestyle is imperative. The idea that food is medicine is deeply rooted in Chinese culture as well as many other cultures around the world. In fact, the practitioner will not only look at the nutritional components of the food itself, but also at its temperature, taste, color, shape, and texture to determine whether the food is correct for that individual’s constitution and condition. For example, if a patient has a cold constitution, then the patient would not be allowed to eat cold foods like ice cream or iced drinks, for it would make their condition and health worse.

Due to the increasing amount of toxins and exogenous hormones that are in the environment and our food sources today, there has been an increase in health problems and infertility related to nutritional deficiencies. Chinese medicine is able to look at these deficiencies on an individualized basis and prescribe a proper diet to reverse and help heal the individual and achieve increased reproductive health.

Your acupuncturist will be more than happy to go over different foods and give you a nutritional guideline handout when you are in the office for treatment. We carry only the highest quality nutritional supplements and organic food supplements.

General Nutritional Guidelines

• Make sure to intake plenty of calories throughout the day to ensure proper hormone metabolism.
• Lightly cook all foods, except fruit, to make them more easily digestible.
• Make sure all food and drinks are room temperature or warmer.
• Use organically grown food whenever possible to increase the nutritional value and decrease the toxins.
• Eat plenty of organic fruits and dark green vegetables.
• Eat a moderate amount of high quality protein daily, whether in an animal or vegetable source. This can include high grade protein shakes as well.
• Eat oily, wild caught fish (like salmon, mackerel, sardines, etc.).
• Limit consumption of high mercury content fish (like tuna, halibut, seabass, swordfish, etc.).
• Eat nuts and seeds.
• Eat complex carbohydrates or whole grains (like brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, and barley).

Foods to Avoid

• Mung Beans
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Junk food or processed foods
• Luncheon meat that is not organic or nitrate free
• Nutmeg, Hibiscus, Pennyroyal, Goldenseal, Echinacea
• Shellfish and fish without scales

Additional Reading

• The Tao of Nutrition, Maoshing Ni, 1987
• Chinese Healing Foods, Rosa LoSan, 1988
• Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford, 2006
• Chinese System Food Cures, Henry Lu, 1997