Digestive Complaints

It is well known that our hectic lives can have a real impact on how well we digest our food. Stress, strong emotional issues, eating poor quality food, hurriedly gobbling down lunch or even skipping breakfast can deplete one�s digestive energy (or Spleen Qi) over time. This gradual, seemingly harmless, way of living can finally take its toll and manifest itself in a variety of digestive complaints.

At this point, the sufferer is often thinking to him/herself �But I�ve always eaten this way. Why is it affecting me like this now?� The answer is clear when one thinks about. The body can only sustain such poor eating habits for a limited time before it is weakened to a point where it develops sensitivity to foods that take a lot of energy to digest.

Personal Perspective

Coming from a Chinese background (1st generation Hong Kong Chinese to be born in the UK), my parents always upheld the traditional Chinese way of cooking. Now, I�m not talking about getting a Chinese meal from the local takeaway (this food has been designed for the Westerner and is not eaten by the Chinese community). The attitude towards food is very different in the Asian world- we see everything that we ingest as medicine. We choose our dietary requirements that reflect our health at that time, If I could count the number of times my mother has said �You have too much Heat in the Lung!�, whilst thrusting a bowel of clear coconut, chicken and carrot broth into my hands, I would be a very rich women.

Recipes

In fairness, I have over-generalised with my presumption of the dietary attitudes and approach to cooking from Westerners. There are some who respect and understand the subtle energetics of food. Daverick Leggett has written some excellent, practical and easily-comprehensible books on the this topic and has even published a recipe book, �Recipes for Self- Healing�. He reiterates the importance of sourcing of good quality, organic ingredients and taking care when choosing the method in how we prepare meals, as these aspects can ultimately influence the resulting energy that the food can produce. I also agree with his statement that there are no �good� or �bad� foods. One must simply select those that suit that individual�s constitution. This would be determined following a thorough consultation where many aspects of your health would be discussed.

Weight Loss Diets

Fad-diets are seldom effective in the long term. Ironically, adopting some of these diets will cause a greater depletion in Spleen/digestive energy and will result in even more weight gain! Instead of bombarding the digestive system with salads comprised with raw fruit and vegetables, which are energetically Cold and extremely Spleen weakening, the Chinese would eat foods that are very easy to digest like hot soups and broths as a means to lose weight.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

In conventional medicine, there appears to be no physical reason for this condition (once infections have been ruled out) but there always appears to strong emotional involvement, i.e. episodes of IBS are triggered by stressful situations. In Chinese Medicine, we diagnose this as �Liver Qi Stagnation invading the Spleen�, resulting in diarrhoea, colonic spasms and pain. This condition responds very well to a combination of acupuncture, dietary changes and possible some work with a counsellor/psychotherapist (to aid in coping with stress).

Acupuncture is also very effective in treating the following digestive problems: constipation, diarrhoea, gastritis, indigestion, colitis, and ulcers.

If you would like more information on this, please email me directly.