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Meet Wendy
With the recent H1N1 scare and upcoming flu season, a lot of my patients have been asking me about acupuncture and colds & flu. I am very happy to share with you a new section of my web devoted to Cold & Flu season.
Please also feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Wendy
I write a lot about Five Elements Theory in my postings, so I thought this would be a good time for a refresher on Five Elements.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the following Table of Five Elements shows the inter-connectivity of different elements in nature. This model has been used by medical practitioners for thousands of years.
In addition to Chinese medicine, other disciplines also reference Five Elements, including Tai Chi (a martial art), Feng Shui, and cosmology.
Table of Five Elements
I originally put this article in my hard copy newsletter and got such a good response from it that I wanted to share it here on my blog:
The health of your lungs is vital to your overall health. Lungs are most sensitive during autumn because the seasonal air brings dryness to the lungs. This may also cause damage to your digestion so it is important to eat foods that build the health of your lungs in order to strengthen your immune system and prepare for winter.
HOW TO HELP YOURSELF:
1. Avoid drafts – keep neck, ears, wrists, and ankles from being exposed to drafts. This is likely where
pathogens will invade your body.
2. Be aware of dryness – In Autumn, there is a slow increase of wind and cold which create dry air.
3. Avoid spicy foods. Because the lungs are sensitive, you need to minimize spicy food intake. Spicy foods
irritate the lungs, making them more vulnerable to pathogens
Wendy
We’ve reached September and we are very lucky to still have 20+ degree weather. But don’t let Vancouver’s mild weather fool you into thinking that our bodies aren’t affected by the change in seasons. As nature transitions from season to season, our body and mental outlook adjust in predictable ways.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), autumn is associated with the element Metal and with the lungs and the colon. The lung is a tender organ as it is the uppermost organ and is susceptible to wind and cold, which may lead to a sore throat, a cold etc.
Switching to a diet of Autumn foods
Adjusting your eating habits with each new season has a tremendous effect on your health.
Autumn foods are white in color and pungent in flavour. Choosing white foods will help relieve cough, nourish skin, and relieve constipation by promoting body fluid production. Move away from eating summer fruits and vegetables into eating more autumn produce.
White foods include:
Turnips, almonds, potatoes, cauliflower, yams, soybean milk, garlic, onion, etc.
So give it a try and let me know how this autumn diet works out for you!
If your allergies feel worse than they ever have before, you might not be imagining things. Experts have suggested that the pollen count this season is particularly high, leaving allergy sufferers feeling particularly low.
Whether you suffer from allergies seasonally or perennially, life can become very miserable. Itching of the eyes, roof of the mouth, or throat, runny nose, headache, sneezing, cough, wheezing…the list goes on.
It is up to our immune systems to defend us against foreign substances such as pollen, dust, pets, etc., however, our immune system can overreact to certain antigens (allergens) which are harmless to most people. The result is an allergic reaction. In other words, it isn’t the allergy itself that is the problem, but the person’s reaction to the allergen.
Acupuncture has been proven to help alleviate the symptoms of allergies when they are active and more importantly, can help to correct the immune system imbalance that causes the allergic response in the first place.
Acupuncture treats allergies in 4 main ways:
1. Stabilizes the immune system to moderate its response to allergens;
2. decreases swelling and inflammation of local tissues to stop itching;
3. decreases secretions of mucus membranes to reduce nasal discharge and watery eyes; and
4. strengthens your natural resistance to antigens.
Acupuncture not only helps with the active symptoms, but also in the prevention of them. Acupuncture can enhance the immune system’s performance in the off-season to prevent the on-set of your allergy symptoms. In other words, acupuncture strengthens the immune system so that your body will not create an overreaction or allergic reaction to elements in nature.