Category Archives: Acupuncture
The Benefits And A Short History Of Tai Chi
Whenever the West thinks of “martial arts,” it unavoidably thinks of punching, kicking, and body contact rather than meditative, rhythmic, slow body movements to help promote, inner peace, calmness, and relaxation. But that’s exactly what the defensive art of tai chi is all about: meditative rhythmic exercises to help the person attain tranquility and peace. This article will attempt to discuss tai chi’s background, foundation, and benefits and how and where to get started.
The History of Tai Chi
Tai chi is a type of Chinese defense art that is several hundreds of years old. It has its origins in an oriental system known as TCM or traditional Chinese medicine. (Tai chi is the exercise performed by folks who perform graceful and fluid exercises in parks all over China, and by more and more people throughout much of the modern world).
In some documents, tai chi goes as far back as two and a half thousands of years ago and entails a sequence of contemplative slow body movements that were primarily designed for the defense arts and for promoting calmness and inner peace in people.
A few famous tai chi masters have demonstrated an ability to effortlessly throw an attacker to the floor with both spectators and the attacker unable to clearly see how it was done. Their motions utilize extremely subtle movements and strong internal energy that go unnoticed by most of the people who observe. This movement explains the phrase “five ounces can turn aside a thousand pounds.” A tai chi artist with this high level of skill can harness a tiny amount of energy to offset the significantly more powerful external force of an attacker.
Chi or Qi
According to traditional Chinese medicine, all persons are considered minute representations of the universe, and are deemed to make up the never ending interplay of the five elements of earth, wood, fire, water, and metal. TCM states that these elements move throughout all the organs of the body in a corresponding manner as the five phases of universal Chi, with chi defined as vital energy or life energy, being the basic force in the body that moves through invisible and internal channels known as meridians. One attains a state of good health when the comingling of these elements bring about the balanced and smooth flow of chi. One can say that the reason they study tai chi is to help their chi flow in a smooth manner.
Qigong
Tai chi is a discipline that sprang forth from the ancient practice of Qigong. This Oriental practice combines movement, breath, and mind to produce a natural and peaceful balance of energy which can be applied for recreation, self-defense, or work. Qigong is similar to yoga which has a wide variety of postures and movements that have been developed throughout the centuries. There are over 3,000 different versions of Qi gong and five important traditions: Buddhist, martial arts, medical, Confucian, and Taoist as well as two essential types: “hard” and “soft.” Soft qigong is also known as inner qigong, of which an example is tai chi.
The Three Most Popular Forms of Tai Chi
Yang, wu, and tai chi chih wu are the three most popular forms of tai chi. In its most basic form, the yang style has 24 movements (in the traditional form, it has 108 movements), and is challenging because your knees are bent most of the time and you need to maintain a wide stance.
In its shorter form, the wu form comprises two to three dozen movements (in the traditional form, it has a hundred movements), uses higher stance than the yang style in which the knees are not quite as bent and is much gentler than the yang style because it uses a narrower style.
There are 20 movements in the tai chi chih style and they use also a higher stance than the yang or wu, but with much less weight transfer from one leg to the other. For beginners, it may be easier to use the wu style to improve balance since it uses a narrow and high stance which fosters balance.
Regardless of what style you use, they all should be performed in a graceful, deliberate, and slow manner with each motion seamlessly flowing into the next without hesitation.
Tai Chi Benefits
Some practitioners firmly believe that tai chi can help extend life and slow down aging; boost thw flexibility of tendons and muscles, and help in the treatment of cancer, depression, skin conditions, digestive disorders, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other conditions. The bad news however, is there hasn’t been a lot of studies that could establish solid scientific proof that it truly works for a wide range of health problems. In a specialized tai chi research where several studies on one subject was reviewed, (known as a meta-analysis), the author comes to the conclusion that while there is proof that support the positive outcomes of tai chi on balance, fitness, and health, a lot of the research has been constrained by the type and duration, the small numbers of subjects, and the wide variation of tai chi styles used. Taking into account these limitations, the following is a list of some of the recorded benefits of tai chi.
Rise in Self-Confidence and Decrease in Fear of falling
In a large group of 70 year old and older seniors who performed tai chi on a regular basis, researchers discovered that the recurrence of fear of falling was lessened from 55 percent to 32 percent. Self-confidence and confidence about not falling, in general, may be one of tai chi’s unintentional benefits, but one that is definitely worth pursuing. In an identical research on seniors, 55 percent of participants who practiced tai chi ascribed their increased self-confidence to better balance. The authors came to the conclusion that “along with the perception of enhanced physical and mental control, an overall sense of improvement in general well-being was achieved that motivates older people even more to continue exercising.”
Reduction of Stress
For adults of all ages, the demands of living can be an extremely challenging experience. While we may not be able to directly refer to research that show a decrease in stress when performing tai chi (although a certain study suggests that people who performed tai chi said that mental control was one of its benefits), the mental concentration, movement, and breathing required of practitioners of tai chi may be just the distraction they need from their frantic lifestyle. The body-mind connection deserves particular attention since it has been shown that, when combined with eye-hand coordination and body movement, breathing can help bring about calmness. Among people who practice tai chi or yoga, the sense of calm and inner peace is indisputable, and perhaps, a person looking for a physically active and creative way to boost their physical and mental health to relieve stress should be willing to give tai chi a try.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia symptoms frequently flare up without relief and are one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions connected to severe painful symptoms and serious impaired health. Unfortunately, fibromyalgia has no known cause and cure. In a research performed on 39 people suffering from this disease, it was shown that after performing tai chi two times, one hour a day, every day for six weeks, the health-related quality of life and symptoms improved. For the other people suffering from this condition, this is certainly great news.
Walking
The pace of walking slows done with age and studies indicate that it may be related to an increased chance of falling. However, one study showed that people who performed tai chi was able to walk more steps than people who did not practice tai chi. There is a clear association between walking and a low incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions, and if tai chi can improve walking, therefore, it’s definitely worth trying.
Aerobic capacity
As a person ages, his aerobic capacity is lessened. However, according to studies, conventional types of aerobic exercise can be enhanced with regular training. Researchers conducting a meta-analysis study reviewed seven studies that focused on the impacts of tai chi on aerobic capacity among adults (average age 55 years). The researchers discovered that people who performed tai chi for a whole year (108 postures using traditional yang style) experienced higher aerobic capacity than people about the same age living sedentary lives. The authors concluded that tai chi should be considered a type of aerobic exercise.
Endurance & Strength
A study observed the effects of tai chi among 60 to 70 year old adults who performed tai chi for 12 twelve weeks three times a week (via one hour classes). The subjects were then subjected to a battery of physical-fitness examinations to record their flexibility, endurance, muscle strength, and balance before the start and after the end of the study. Within six weeks, substantial improvements were statistically recorded. After the end of the study, further improvements in each of these areas were still being seen. The heads of the study concluded that tai chi is an effective way to improve balance, increase flexibility, and bolster muscle strength in the lower and upper body of older adults.
Prevention of Falls and Balance
A majority of the studies on tai chi has been performed in older people in the field of fall prevention and balance. This area of study is vital since injuries associated with falling are the number cause of disability, injury, or even death among seniors. Hip fracture is one of the most serious fall injuries these people tend to incur; actually, 50 percent of all seniors hospitalized for hip fracture never return to their former degree of function. Since tai chi motions are deliberate and slow with body weight shifting from one leg to the other in line with upper body movements (with one leg occasionally in the air), it can help improve balance and people have long assumed it decreases fall frequency and promotes balance. This theory has been strongly supported by and credited to some research.
Another study compared 65 year old and older men who have over 10 years experience in practicing tai chi with men with similar ages who have led sedentary lives (have not done tai chi or any other physical activities). The study showed that the men who practiced tai chi had better scores on tests of cardiovascular function, flexibility, and balance. One other study which included the participation of 22 women and men aged 22 – 76 years with mild balance problems showed significant improvement in function in the Romberg test (a standard balance test) after eight weeks of tai chi practice.
Additional reasons to perform tai chi:
1. It can be performed alone or in a group (look for a tai chi teacher willing to teach the exercises in your workplace during lunch hour).
2. It’s noncompetitive.
3. It’s done at your own pace.
4. It can be done anytime and at any place
5. It requires no special equipment or clothing and uses very little space.
6. There is very low risk of injury
7. Movements exert very low stress on your joints and muscles and are gentle and low-impact.
Tao chi movements are extremely diverse, and as people become more accomplished, they can add more movements to their routine.
How much tai chi do I need?
Not enough tai chi studies have been done to indicate what the maximum amount of tai chi is to garner meaningful benefits. Research has demonstrated impacts in as little as an hour of training a week. Still, as with dancing or any new type of activity, in the beginning, there is a sharp learning curve and a lot of people might find performing the exercises two or three times a week to be a more effective way to perform tai chi. Among tai chi circles, it is a traditional wisdom that an individual may need to practice tai chi for at least a year before he or she becomes proficient.
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Bone Setting Massage Therapy
Deemed to be one of the oldest forms of manual curative therapy in the West, bone setting massage is an extremely effective type of neuro-muscular massage that’s been performed by bonesetters in French and other European countryside. These methods are quite useful in resolving several issues associated with the locomotive system specifically, the nerves, joints, and muscles. Even within the initial treatments, the outcomes can be astonishing.
The aim of bone setting massage is to bring back the normal functionality of the mobility of the joints and the various muscle tissues of the body. The practitioner works on the tension using relatively heavy pressure at several parts of the body: capsules muscles, tendons, or ligaments.
Bone setting massage is different from a ‘cracking’ technique and more of a deep work on internal organs and body tissues. The functional and structural interconnections of the body are regulated once the mobility of the joint and the tissues’ functionality is restored and the sick state of the person is resolved.
A lot of the current modern osteopathic methods originate come from this provincial practice; nowadays, the scientific bonesetter and osteopath have almost the same level of skill!
When is bone setting massage used?
Bonesetting massage works extremely well for any type of pain, complaint, or problem associated with the nerves, ligaments, joints, tendons, or muscles.
It can be used for:
• Neuralgia – cruralgia, cervicalgia, brachalgia, lombalgia, dorsalgia, and lombo-sciatalgia.
• Blocked or painful joints
• Loss of joint mobility
• Muscle contraction – lumbar and dorsal pain, stiff neck, and lumbago
• Tendonitis – sub/supraspinatus tendonitis, tennis elbow or epicondylitis, Achilles tendon, rotuliana, golf elbow or epitrocleitis, etc.
• Inflamed joints – bursitis, capsulitis, polyarthritis, periarthritis, relief for arthritis
• Muscle pain: muscular tensions or contractures, strained or pulled muscle
• Calcaneal spur, sprains, intercostal syndrome, or carpal tunnel syndrome
• Blocking & pain caused by old accidents
• Reverberation in the spine and unbalanced pelvis
• Blocked or painful shoulder or radiating shoulder pain
Counter-indications: malignant metastasis and tumors, significant organ lesions, infectious or inflammatory disease, and acute forms of illnesses. You may need to consult with your doctor or healthcare provider in case of suspicious conditions.
Comments regarding the treatment
Certain pressure can cause pain or sensitivity. But, when done on the painful area on a regular basis, it will facilitate the relief and the release of deep tissue ailment. If within 24 hours following treatment, you still experience pain in the treatment area, there’s no need to be alarmed. This is usually a sign that your body is working to address your condition. One session of bone setting massage therapy usually lasts an hour.
The Applications And Uses Of Cranial-Sacral Therapy
CST or Cranial-Sacral Therapy is a gentle technique that uses a very light touch to work with the body. A therapist trained in CST places his hands lightly on the neck and head in order to ‘listen’ to the body and how it responds to their touch. There is no manipulation, pulling, or wrenching involved. As the pelvis or sacrum is attached to the skull through the vertebrae and spinal cord, subtle motions of the dural fluid in the spinal cord and the sacrum and can be felt as the cranium is held. Just applying this process can exert a powerful force that can balance the entire body. After a CST session, changes may be experienced in the spirit, mind, and body.
What are the uses of Cranial-Sacral Therapy?
Since Cranial-Sacral Therapy is extremely non-invasive and gentle, it is a perfect form of treatment for practically everyone; from newly born infants to seniors. Mothers usually bring their babies for treatment related to difficult or traumatic births. A sense of clarity of mind, wellbeing, and calmness is usually the outcome as CST enables the body to release fear and tension that’s been deeply buried in the body. In a session of CST, clients can be cured of a wide variety of health problems including car accidents/ whiplash, vertigo, tinnitus, stress, epilepsy and seizures, scoliosis, poor memory, neck pain, migraines, loss of sense of smell, insomnia, headaches, hay fever, eye problems, eye motor dysfunction, ear infections, dyslexia, depression, deafness, chronic bad posture, cerebral palsy, brain-fog, blocked sinuses, autism, anxiety, ADD and TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint problems (the hinge of the jaw, which, if misaligned can lead to poor digestion, as digestion begins with the process of chewing.); indeed, a lot of emotional, mental, and physical, issue may be treated with CST.
How long does one session of CST last?
A typical CST session may take 20 to 30 minutes to finish. Some therapists may use additional procedures to complement KORE Therapy treatment while others use a ‘top-up’ session in between KORE Therapy treatments.
What should I expect from a CST treatment session?
Some people experience a wide variety of sensations including buzzing, tingling, or warm sensations; a sense of relaxation and ease; a feeling of tranquility and peace; a feeling of balance; revitalization; seeing different patterns and colors when their eyes are closed; a sense of emotionally, mentally, and physically letting go; emotional, mental, and physical remembrance of past events; a connection with their Higher Self or a Higher Spirit; and a sense of deepening self- and body- awareness.
How many treatment sessions do I need?
In order to get the best results from a CST treatment, you may need to go through a couple or more sessions of treatment. As the treatment progresses, the client and therapist will decide on the number of sessions the client needs.
What is unique about CST?
By simply using a gentle and simple listening touch, CST can provide a person a profound peace that enables his body and mind to rest deeply in order for natural healing, harmony, and balance to take place. This is a treatment that promotes and recognizes the connection that links the spiritual, mental, and physical aspects of a person. Within the peaceful state of mind generated during a session, these strands can become more completely incorporated, as each helps the other to help the body heal itself.
Some Of The Great Benefits Gua Sha Therapy Has To Offer
Oriental medicine experts define gua sha therapy as a traditional East Asian medicine healing technique that’s sometimes known in the West as ‘scraping,’ ‘spooning,’ or ‘coining.’ Gua sha uses a scraping device or tool that’s uni-directionally pressed stroked over a lubricated area of the body in order to deliberately produce a temporary ‘sha’ or petechiae, which represent a discharge of blood in the sub layer of the skin.
In simple terms, gua sha therapy includes the use of a scraping tool (bone or jade) to scrape the affected surface of the skin to generate bleeding capillaries or petechiae. Petechiae are not the same as bruises and instead of pain, the patient feels extremely relaxed and calm.
The Benefits of Gua Sha
The following are some of the great benefits gua sha therapy has to offer:
1. Alleviates pain
Gua sha therapy reduces inflammation in people, which can dramatically alleviate chronic pain and myalgia. Research has shown that gua sha possesses therapeutic effects especially when it comes to inflammatory diseases, such as chronic hepatitis. This is the time when an inflammation of the liver can lead to premature death, over time. Regardless of health ailments and problems you’re suffering from, gua sha treatment can be useful to you.
2. Stimulates the immune system
Gua sha’s most promising benefits are its impact on the immune system. The immune system becomes activated when this treatment is performed. This speeds up the body’s natural healing processes. In Asian societies, gua sha is frequently used in cases of sicknesses to “allow the illness to escape.”
3. To Slow Down or Reverse Aging
Besides it wonderful therapeutic effects, gua sha can also be used to enhance the appearance of the skin. In this occasion, a much gentler type of gua sha procedure is used: this therapy:
(1) Lessens puffiness under the eyes
(2) Tightens the skin
(3) Smoothes wrinkles and fine lines
(4) Provides plump skin to give it a youthful glow
4. Does Not Use Needles
Similar to acupuncture in Marlton, gua sha provides relief to pain. It is a less invasive procedure, which makes it more appealing to those who have a fear of needles. This therapy is a more preferable choice than acupuncture for people of all ages, especially children.
Now that we know a few of the benefits gua sha can provide, you can talk about your treatment options with a qualified acupuncturist or massage therapist to see how this valuable healing technique can benefit you!
Practitioners should take the time to know your specific conditions to see if gua sha is the proper mode of treatment for you. It can be a great complementary treatment to either acupuncture or massage therapy.
Auricular Acupuncture Is Fast Becoming A Mainstream Form Of Treatment For Sciatica
The ear has one of the most abundant reflex systems in the body. A reflex system is an area in the body where the entire body is depicted in a specific part of the body. Reflex systems are sometimes called “microsystems” and are two-way systems of communication of the body. They mirror the illness of a part of the body and can also treat it. The most well-known reflex systems are foot and hand reflexology. Auricular acupuncture is the appraisal and activation of the auricle or outer ear for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in other regions of the body.
Auricular acupuncture has been used by early Chinese physicians for thousands of years. These doctors exploited the auricle in diagnosis and treatment. Ancient documents reveal Hippocrates pierced points behind the ears to treat sciatic pain and impotence. Medical documents around the Middle Ages in Europe reveal ear treatment for sciatica. In the 1950’s, French neurologist Dr. Paul Nogier created a comprehensive map of the ear repressing it as a reflex system. He devised a model using an upside down fetus as the model image. His research has been confirmed by physicians throughout the globe. Around the 1970’s, Michael Smith a doctor from New York devised a protocol for substance abuse withdrawal by treating five points on the auricle. He established the NADA or the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association.
Auricular acupuncture is used by health care providers such as psychologists, massage therapists, chiropractors, physicians, and acupuncturists and is one of the extremely effective though lesser known alternative healing therapies. Acupuncture points on the ear are activated stimulated by ear acupuncture pellets, magnets, lasers, needles, and manual pressure. Without using needles, auricular acupuncture can be as potent as acupuncture. The World Health Organization Director in 1990 said, “Of all the microsystems of acupuncture, auricular therapy is perhaps the best documented, most scientifically developed, and the most widely used and most practical.”
Practically every condition can be treated by auricular acupuncture is one of the best aspects of this therapy. Treatment of conditions such as menopause, headaches, arthritis, anxiety, addictions, insomnia, stress, and pain can be augments with the inclusion of auricular acupuncture. This modality is designed to be a complements to other kinds of therapy. It has not been designed to be a substitute for other proper medical care.
Studies done in China have determined that Auricular Acupuncture can treat more than 200 disorders and diseases and works in 85 percent of cases. The Pain Management Center of UCLA In 1980 performed a double blind research to ascertain the scientific validity of external ear diagnosis. It discovered a 75 percent rate of accuracy rate in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal pain conditions via palpation and observation of the ear. Research conducted in South Australia at Adelaide University, examined auricular acupuncture for the treatment of obesity. It discovered that auricular acupuncture can restrain appetite. The amount of weight lost and the number of people who lost weight was meaningfully higher in the group treated with auricular acupuncture.
All these suggest to an astonishing wellness and health healing modality – auricular acupuncture!
The Role Of Intention In Energy Medicine
Intention applies to your desire of receiving or giving a treatment of energy medicine and in no way indicates force, or using your will to affect the result of a treatment.
One must understand that a practitioner of energy medicine is not responsible for the way a patient responds to treatment. A lot of variables can come into play that can affect a person’s ability to respond to the treatment. A couple of important ones are the capacity for healing or vital life force and attitude.
Focus applies to your simply showing-up and being wholeheartedly absorbed in the present moment, as you become accessible to serving the needs of a person being given an energetic therapy. In a manner of speaking, emptying your cup provides one with the potential of healing.
For the practitioner of energy medicine, when practicing energy medicine, the single greatest skill he can cultivate is the ability to observe without any agenda, or attachment to result.
We know that in quantum physics nothing occurs when it isn’t observed first. Therefore, your aim is observe your client without prejudice. This act of observation generates the space for healing to come about.
Holistic Body-Mind Treatments include pure essential oils that are noninvasive and gentle alternative types of health care to synchronize and balance your spirit, mind, and body in an effective, safe, and natural way to bolster one’s well-being and health. Holistic therapy usually generates satisfying outcomes where other modalities have failed. Do not try to diagnose yourself and talk to a doctor for your health concerns.
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The Advantages Of Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
As an alternative to conventional Western medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is designed to correct imbalances in the body and works in ways that include:
• Enhancing the lifestyle of the patients – This includes advancing healthy exercise and diet
• Assisting the patient to relate to internal emotions in a healthier way
• Addressing the environment and the external aspects of the patient
Traditional Chinese medicine impacts the various regions of the body although it often tends to focus on only a few of body parts. Those regions include: heart, kidneys, spleen, liver, lung, small intestine, gallbladder, and large intestine.
Traditional Chinese medicine – Its Benefits
In traditional Chinese medicine, a practitioner’s choice of treatment can provide several advantages that include:
Betterment of the liver’s health: A healthy TCM diet helps in bolstering the health of the liver since traditional Chinese medicine practitioners recommend following a healthy diet. To improve the health of your liver, the healthiest foods to eat include: herbs, spices such as garlic and ginger, healthy fats, and sweet potatoes. People need to stay away from processed carbohydrates, alcohol, refined oils, sugary snacks and drinks, and fried foods.
Hormonal balance: Clinical trials reveal that herbs that are high in antioxidants and used to treat anti-inflammatory conditions can help improve the function of the central nervous and endocrine system. This helps enhance the healing powers of the body and balances hormones such as testosterone, insulin, cortisol, and estrogen.
Alleviation of chronic headache and pain: The use of acupressure and acupuncture in Boca Raton can substantially contribute to the management and relief of pain associated with arthritis and other medical problems. Medical researchers have also observed that treatment modalities such as tai chi and eating a healthy diet can lead to a major decrease in chronic tension headaches.
Less inflammation: The mushrooms and herbs used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine possess anti-inflammatory, autophagic, antiapoptotic, and/or antioxidant qualities. When these herbs are taken, it can lead to lower levels of inflammation and oxidative stress that helps protect the organs, tissues and cells from illnesses and disease.
A Few Recommendations to Consider When Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
If you desire to get optimal benefits from the use of traditional Chinese medicine, you need to follow a few healthy tips. Before settling on a specific practitioner, always gives yourself time to research the practitioner’s background to see if he/she is qualified and reputable. We advice that you visit a number of clinics and take a look at the certifications displayed on the wall of the clinic. You may need to avoid practitioners who have no certifications.
Natural herbs should always be taken under the supervision of a qualified practitioner. They should not be used if you are pregnant or if you’re suffering from a medical condition. Stay away from drugs manufactured by an unknown company as they might contain lethal additives such as mercury, cadmium, lead and other heavy metals.
To optimize your treatment experience, it is important to integrate preventative habits and lifestyles such as natural supplements, getting adequate sleep, eating a healthy diet, and exercising, into your treatment regimen.
Conclusion
These are the things you need to know about traditional Chinese medicine. It’s important to note that the herbs are indicated for complementary modes of treatment, so you should take them alongside complementary medications. Always follow the advice of your doctor to avoid any complications.
The Importance Of Cold And Hot Foods In Chinese Nutritional Therapy
There is nothing more basic to human health than eating healthily. Sadly, there is a lot of confusing information out there that it is really very difficult to select the right one. The aim is to give a few fundamental standards of Chinese Nutrition that anyone can follow without altering what they consume.
Some aspects of the Chinese diet can be very puzzling and may even necessitate diagnosis prior to the recommendation of a certain diet. This article is designed to set some simple rules that anyone can integrate into their everyday habits.
According to Chinese medicine in Bellmore, of which Chinese nutritional therapy is a branch of, there are three parts to any good diet:
• Current state of health
• Environment
• Basic body constitution
At all times should these three aspects be taken into account; this is the reason there is no such thing as good food or bad food in Chinese medicine, only food.
Chinese medicine mainly pertains to Chi which is required to flow freely at all times. When it fails to flow in a smooth manner, it will result in all types of diseases. This is the one single purpose of acupuncture, Qi Gong, and even Chinese herbs.
In regard to food, Chinese medicine states that the human body reduces Chi from food via a number of steps, until there is not a single Chi left. The Chi can be excreted as stool and urine. This is why Chinese medicine is primarily designed to reinforce the body in order to tap the energy or Chi that is in the food in contrast to Western nutritional therapy which mainly focuses on nutrient supplementation.
1. Current state of health:
In Chinese nutritional therapy, a person’s current state of health needs to be considered seriously. So, for instance, if a person suffers from Chi deficiency, he’s likely to always feel cold, and if he consumes salads excessively, or in the morning eats cold cereal with cold milk, it will exacerbate his Chi deficiency even more.
Chinese medicine classifies foods into: hot, warm, neutral, cool, and cold. In addition, the nature of food can be changed by cooking.
2. Environment
Environmental factors are as equally important as a person’s basic constitution. This is what’s totally missing from the Western diet as Chinese nutritional therapy classifies foods as warm, cold, or neutral. It matters a lot in Chinese medicine whether some kinds of food are consumed at a specific season. For instance, most people would say that in the winter, they find it difficult to eat a raw food diet. This is because, by nature, raw food is cold food, and the environment is cold in winter, making eating raw foods just too much for the body to handle. Of course, this is not an issue during summer since the warm environment balances the cold food.
3. Basic constitution
Each person has his or her own basic constitution. Individuals usually prefer cold or hot climate. Some like coke and other cold drinks while others prefer hot drinks such as coffee or tea. Obviously, seasons are major factors in Chinese medicine and so another question to ask is if someone prefers winter to summer or vice versa.
Generally speaking, foods are sorted in the following categories:
Cool: Sour cream, sprouts, cucumber, yogurt
Cold: Most vegetables, dairy products except butter, which is warm), seafood
Neutral: Wheat, potato, rice, most staple products
Warm: Onion, pork, goose, duck, red wine, coffee
Hot: Alcohol, beef, lamb, got, meat products
How the nature of food is changed by the way it is cooked
For instance, when food is cooked at a higher temperature, more Yang energy is carried to the food. Steaming or boiling is an extremely gentle form of cooking while barbecuing or deep frying introduces a significant amount of Yang energy into the food.
So how can we combine all these principles?
If you have a cold constitution, you should eat more cooked food more so during the winter, or when you have cold feet and hands, and/or when you feel tired.
If you have a warm constitution, you need to eat foods that have been gently cooked especially in the summer. You also need to avoid spicy food.
Proof That Electroacupuncture Can Be Used To Lower Stress
Acupuncture Fremont is one of the oldest forms of treatment in Chinese medicine involving the use of hair-thin needles stuck into important acupoints in the body to help treat a wide range of health problems. While the benefits of acupuncture have been well known since in China since ancient times, the West is only now starting to comprehend how and why the age-old method works.
The alleviation of stress is just one among the many benefits of acupuncture, but precisely how or why inserting needles into the skin attains this was earlier unknown. The Journal of Endocrinology published a new study observing the method by which acupuncture can help alleviate stress in mice.
Georgetown University Medical Center researchers discovered that electronic acupuncture can slow down the release of hormones related to stress in the body, shielding the body from the effects of stress.
Lowering stress in mice
According to Dr. Ladan Eshkevari, a Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies associate professor, “a lot of acupuncture practitioners have noted that acupuncture can lower stress in people, but a dearth of proof exists of why or how this occurs,” ” At the molecular level, we’re beginning to understand what is occurring that can help explain the benefit of acupuncture to health.”
Electroacupuncture or electronic acupuncture is an acupuncture technique that transmits tiny electric signals into the needles. This procedure is at times favored over traditional acupuncture because the needles don’t need to be placed as precisely, since the electrical signal tends to reach a larger part of the body.
Electroacupuncture has the same advantages as traditional acupuncture, but is known to be especially effective for the management of pain.
Eshkevari, who is also an acupuncturist and physiologist commented, “Electroacupuncture is my treatment of choice because it guarantees that each animal is getting the same dose of treatment”.
Eshkevari produced a number of studies on mice to evaluate the impact of electroacupuncture on the amount of hormones and proteins released into the bloodstream due to stress.
Monitoring stress hormones
Researchers used mice for the study because their reaction to stress is akin to that of humans; when they’re exposed to cold temperatures for one hour each day, they tend to become extremely stressed. For a total of two weeks, they studied the mice after dividing them into four groups.
The first group received no stress triggers or electroacupuncture and was used as a control; the second group received no electroacupuncture and was stressed for an hour each day; the third group received “sham” acupuncture (placebo acupuncture) and was stressed; the fourth group was administered acupuncture to the “Zusanli” acupoint on the leg and was stressed.
When needles are inserted into the “Zusanli” or St36 acupuncture point, it can lead to relief of stress. This point is located in the same spot for both humans and mice: just below the knee down the leg.
The researchers then measured chemicals related to stress in the mice.
Stress causes the body to release a number of hormones into the bloodstream. The hypothalamus, adrenal gland, and pituitary gland are the organs responsible for these hormones release. Together they make up the HPA (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal) axis. The researchers also monitored peptide activity associated with “fight or flight” responses known as neuropeptide.
Mounting Evidence
Based on this analysis, researchers discovered, that “electroacupuncture obstructs the stress-induced, chronic elevations of the sympathetic neuropeptide pathway and the HPA axis hormones.” The mice receiving “sham” electroacupuncture showed higher levels of hormones same as the mice that were highly stressed.
Eshkevari said, “The growing body of proof indicates the protective effect of acupuncture against the stress response.” He added that more studies are required to determine whether acupuncture could work in lowering hormone levels in mice after they are exposed to the stress of cold temperatures, and if a similar conclusion can be made in humans.
According to Eshkevari, this study complements her work earlier reported that focused on neuropeptides alone. Eshkevari and her associates discovered the reduction of neuropeptide or NPY levels in the experimental group which was almost the same as the control group, while the mice that were not treated with Zusanli acupuncture and stressed showed high levels of NPY.
Studies Support The Use Of Auriculotherapy, Auricular Acupuncture, And Acupuncture In The Treatment Of Addictions
Dr. Paul Nogier’s original work led to the discovery of what we now know as auriculotherapy. This type of treatment is not the same as ear acupuncture or auricular acupuncture. While auricular acupuncture uses needles stuck among a rigid number of so-called acupuncture points, auriculotherapy neither uses fixed points nor does it require the use of needles. The points used in auriculotherapy points are generated by the stimulation of three cervical ganglia and four cranial nerves. Those are clearly not acupoints.
In auriculotherapy, the practitioner makes use of a pen-shaped FDA class 11 medical device to:
1. Find the location of an auriculotherapy point
2. Evaluate the located point, and
3. Heal the point if it is deemed to be pathologic
Characterized as the identification and treatment of the ear’s neurological points by stimulation of micro-currents, auriculotherapy is a painless procedure in which each point is treated for 30 seconds using a small manual device shaped like a pen. Treatment involves both ears for ten minutes five days a week for about four years. Needles used in auricular acupuncture are inserted in the skin where they remain for 40 minutes to an hour or so.
Medical Studies Supporting Auriculotherapy and Acupuncture
Several studies have been done since the 70’s and 80’s to find out whether auriculotherapy and acupuncture was effective in the treatment of substance addiction. An online MEDLINE search revealed more than 9,770 studies were done that dealt with the use of all forms of acupuncture for SUD including smoking behavior, binge eating, stimulant abuse, heroin addiction, and alcoholism. Most of the findings were derived from the most palpable uses of acupuncture: in the relief of ailments and pain related to opiate addiction.
Numerous studies in 1977 done by Wen in favor of acupuncture revealed substantial alleviation of withdrawal symptoms within 15 minutes at the onset of treatment. A year after, during the interval, follow up treatment led by Schuckit showed that 51 of the subjects haven’t used drugs. Oieson and Kroening discovered in 1985 that the sharp decrease of narcotic withdrawal was a success, with 85 percent of the subjects withdrawing with minimum side effects within five days to a week. The literature recently shows numerous studies favoring auriculotherapy, auricular acupuncture, , or acupuncture that includes cocaine addiction, alcohol addiction, and smoking addiction using the five point NADA protocol established and approved by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association.
The comments from patients have been extremely positive. Some of these comments include among others: “Now actually sleeping,” “Headache is cured,” “No more violent mood swings,” “Feeling good from within,” “Feel calmer now,” “Feel less stress,” “Restored my natural energy,” “Lessened my craving for alcohol, “Even though I was clean I never once stopped craving drugs prior to acupuncture,” “I’ve stopped the craving since acupuncture,” “This was the quickest I kicked heroin,” and “A change in attitude.”
Drug court counselors state, “These people are becoming more balanced physically, mentally, and emotionally and for my patients, acupuncture in Walla Walla has led to amazing results.”