Probiotics and Chinese Medicine

Many of you have heard about probiotics. For those of you who haven't, probiotics are beneficial bacteria. We all have them in our intestines and women have them inside their vaginas (lack of these beneficial bacteria is what leads to yeast infections).  Antibiotics kill bacteria when there is an infection in your body, but they are often non-discriminating and kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad. This is why many people experience digestive symptoms after taking antibiotics. Probiotics are used to replenish the good bacteria that you have lost. However, antibiotics are not the only thing that can deplete us of our good bacteria. Poor diet and stress can also do that over time.

But let's look at the Eastern perspective.

According to Chinese Medicine, digestion is the realm of the Spleen. When the Spleen is functioning properly it separates the "pure" from the "turbid" in the food that we eat; the pure is transformed into the Qi and the Blood and the turbid becomes waste. When the Spleen is weak or over burdened with too much sugar, refined, raw or cold foods, you experience symptoms such as bloating, fatigue, loose stools, constipation, flatulence and lots of phlegm (like chronic sinus congestion). Antibiotics are seen as very cold (since they attack infections which are hot) so they easily damage the Spleen, causing many of the above symptoms. Probiotics, since they aid digestion, are seen as a Spleen tonic. They warm and improve the Spleen's function thereby repairing the damage that antibiotics cause.

Even without antibiotic use the Spleen can become damaged. As I mentioned before poor diet can affect the Spleen, but emotions can also cause injure it. The Spleen is vulnerable to over-thinking, obsessive thinking, too much mental or physical work. When you are stuck in your head, it is not good for your Spleen. When your Spleen is damaged by your emotions, you might experience a "knot" in your stomach, or bowel irregularities (incomplete bowel movements, alternating between loose and hard stools) or when it is really chronic, more extreme conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Colitis. Probiotics can help with many of these conditions by regulating the bowel movements, seen by Chinese Medicine as improving Spleen function.

According to the Western view of physiology, about 70% of your immune system is found in your gastrointestinal tract. According to the Eastern view of physiology, the Spleen makes the Wei Qi (see Nov. 1st blog entry). Either way, your digestive system plays a huge role in the state of your immune system. Regular probiotic intake can play a big part in keeping your immune system healthy. Probiotics are found mostly in fermented foods, like saurkraut, high quality yogurt, kefir, natto, miso, kombucha as well as in raw dairy products. You can also buy probiotic supplements in your local natural food store or vitamin store.

Keep your Spleen and your immune system happy by eating warm, cooked, easily digestible foods and probiotics. A little goes a long way to keeping you healthy!

Balance of Yin and Yang

Happy New Year! Now that "holiday eating" is behind us we can start to look ahead at health in the new year (of course the Chinese new year is not for another month...). Winter is the time when our energy retreats inward, think hibernation. It is cold and dark outside so we tend to spend more time indoors where it is warm. Unless you wear shorts and a T-shirt in the snow, the key to health in the winter is not to encourage more cold by eating a lot of raw, chilled or frozen foods. Think stews, soups and tea!

Health is about balance. Too much of a good thing is still too much and can cause problems. When it comes to heat (Yang) and cold (Yin) in the body the same is true. If either is out of balance, we are out of balance. Too much heat (or not enough cool) and we dry up; too much cool (or not enough heat) and we can't get warm and get very damp and phlegmy.  In either case we can end up with blockages in our energy flow. Qi flows best with just enough heat and cool.

How do I know that I have "just enough?"

When you experience symptoms (like those I'm about to list) you know that you are out of balance. If you are symptom free, you are balanced.

If you have too much heat (excess yang) you might experience: headaches, red face, sweats (or sweat easily with little or no exertion),  high blood pressure, dark concentrated urine, stomach pain/pressure, acid reflux, constipation, heavy menstrual flow, overly strong libido, acne.

If you have not enough cool (deficient yin) you might experience: insomnia, night sweats, dry skin, hot flashes (with or without sweats), hot hands, feet and chest.

If you have too much cold ("excess yin")*, you might experience: lower back pain that is better with heat, difficulty getting warm, poor digestion, loose or watery stools, infertility, frequent urination, painful menstrual periods, fixed joint pain.
*Clinically you don't typically see "excess yin," but you can have excess cold that comes from the enviornment or from eating too much cold, raw or chilled/frozen food.

If you have not enough heat (deficient yang), you might experience: chronic lower back pain that is better with heat, 5am diarrhea, loose/watery stools with undigested food in the stools, low or no libido, edema especially in the lower body, frequent copious urination, poor digestion.

So what can I do?

In addition to seeing an acupuncturist to get your exact diagnosis, you can start with some basic wisdom. If you seem to fall into the excess yang or deficient yin category, you can probably get away with eating more cooling foods. However, you still don't want to overdo it or you will find yourself in the "too much cold" category. Avoid spicy foods as well since they may exacerbate your symptoms. Aim for "cooling" foods, like:

cucumbers, asparagus, celery, button mushrooms, yogurt (good yogurt, not yoplait), amaranth, millet, wild rice, apple, avocado, blueberry, pear, lima beans, mung beans, chammomile and peppermint.

If you seem to fall into the "excess yin" or deficient yang category, eating warming foods is in your best interest. Most of your food should be cooked and warm when you eat it. If you do eat raw food, like fruit, make sure that it is at least room temperature. "Warming" food examples:

meat, chicken, turkey, ham, shrimp, lobster, oats, quinoa, sweet rice, kale, leek, onion, pepper, squash, sweet potato, blackberry, cherry, date, basil, cardamon, cinnamon, clove, cumin, fresh ginger (dry is hotter than fresh and better for excess cold), nutmeg, oregano, miso, walnut, jasmine, black beans, chestnut, coconut and coconut milk. 

Eat for health!

Acupuncture for Stress

Everyone has stress. It is almost inevitable in this day and age. What matters is what happens to stress when it hits your body--do you roll with it or does it roll you?

From an evolutionary perspective, our physiological response to stress was for survival: adrenaline helped us escape from the attacking saber-toothed tiger. It was a short lived surge during the time of danger; when the danger passed, the body went back to baseline. These days, however, stress tends not to be a temporary thing, but a chronic condition. Many of us have periods of really high stress followed by periods of only moderately high stress. This constant flow of adrenaline and cortisol in the body can lead to chronically tight muscles, headaches, migraines, depression or anxiety, high blood pressure, menstrual irregularities and pain, insomnia, fatigue or exhaustion, digestive upset and so much more. Then when we feed the stress with caffeine and sugar or sugar substitutes things only get worse. But what is happening in the body and why does stress cause all of this discomfort?

First a Western view.

The release of adrenaline and cortisol increases the heart rate and breathing. Blood is sent into the muscles and they tighten. Digestion and immunity are not necessary in times of danger so these functions are suppressed. The mind is awake and alert. Short term, all of this is fine, but long term, not so much. Long term your alert mind keeps you from sleeping, your impaired immunity allows you to get sick, your tight muscles hurt. This doesn't paint a pretty picture.

Now an Eastern view.

According to Chinese medicine, the Liver has many functions. The function we will discuss here is its ability to move the Qi. There is a famous saying in Chinese medicine: "When there is free flow, there is no pain; when there pain there is no free flow." The free flow of Qi leads to a happily balanced and symptom-free body and mind. Stress (as well as anger, frustration and unfulfilled desires) constricts the Liver . When the Liver is constricted it cannot function properly and therefore can't move the Qi freely through all of the energy channels. When the energy is blocked, or "stagnated," you see symptoms like the ones listed above. Stress therefore blocks the free flow of Qi in the body, and leads to all sorts of physical, mental and emotional discomfort.

Here is where you say "but I can't change the stress in my life!" Stressors in your life might not change, but how you handle them can. Take back your control, don't allow stress to control you.

One method of controlling stress is acupuncture. Acupuncture uses tiny hair-fine needles to unblock the flow of Qi and improve circulation in your body. Acupuncture calms the nervous system, improves blood flow, reduces inflammation, improves digestion and strengthens your immune system--all functions that are impaired by stress. By strengthening the Liver (as well as the Kidneys-- they support the Liver) and releasing its constriction, stress no longer has a hold on you; your symptoms improve or go away completely and you feel better. When you support that with healthy eating, exercise and rest you will be on your way to chronic health!

Acupuncture for Upper Respiratory Problems

Welcome to the first entry of Acupuncture Wisdom. I hope you find these posts useful in understanding how acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine might be useful with improving your health.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, respiratory problems, such as sinus congestion, cough, bronchitis, the flu and even colds, are the realm of the Lungs. The "Lung area" includes the nose, sinuses, throat and actual lungs. When TCM was originally developed thousands of years ago, the doctors weren't aware of viruses and bacteria causing illness, they just saw how different types of illness affected the body. Because of this, acupuncture doesn't treat the illness, like an antibiotic does, it treats the body to help it fight off the illness. By working on the immune system, acupuncture strengthens the body and over time leaves you better able to fend off future illnesses. 

A little about the immune system. 

The TCM concept of the immune system is called Wei Qi (pronounced "Way Chee") which is seen as the most superficial layer of Qi, or energy in the body. It acts like a force field to prevent illness from invading the body. When you take care of yourself (eat well, rest, exercise) your Wei Qi is strong and you don't get sick very often. When you are stressed, don't sleep well and survive on sugar and caffeine, your Wei Qi is weak and you get run down and sick far more often. The stronger your Wei Qi, the better able you are to fend off any invading pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungii).

Now about illness.

Different illnesses affect the body in different ways: some cause sinus congestion with a lot of phlegm; some cause high fever with cough, sore throat and body aches; some cause coughing that is worse at night. TCM views each of these types of conditions as "the elements" (wind, cold, heat, dampness) invading the body. Wind typically brings other elements into the body. Pure wind conditions are the most benign, usually symptoms like move like wind: aches that move around, scratchy throat, clear runny nose, headache that comes and goes. If wind brings in cold, you might also see: chills, craving warm foods and beverages, more fixed painful headaches. With heat you'll also see: sweats, fever, thirst, sore throat, maybe a rash. With dampness you see phlegm: sinus/nasal congestion, coughing up phlegm, foggy head; the phlegm will be clear, white or yellow/green depending on whether the dampness is accompanied by just wind, or also cold or heat. Any of these elements can be seen alone or in combination. These elements are the body's reaction to whatever pathogen has invaded the body.

Now about acupuncture.

Acupuncture doesn't specify whether you've contracted the common cold, the flu, a sinus infection or bronchitis, it treats you according to your symptoms and whether they point to wind, wind-cold, wind-heat, wind-damp, etc. By treating the area of the body affected (the nose and sinuses for congestion, the chest for cough, etc.) plus the Pathogenic influence (wind-cold, wind-heat...), your body can better mount a defense against the illness and you will feel better faster. Rather than suppressing symptoms, like most over-the-counter cold medicines do, you are helping the body get rid the illness so the duration of your illness is shorter. Feeling better faster is the point after all.