TCM dietary therapy

Chinese dietary medicine is one of the five branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that maintains and restores an individual’s harmony with nature. Based on TCM theory, food items can be classified as Yin (cooling) and Yang (heating) – two energy properties. A balance of yin and yang foods is important for maintaining good health. Yin and yang are also complementary qualities that are essential to each other. Yin foods can be cool and thought to moisten your body while yang foods can be warm and drying. Foods that have a particular taste tend to have particular properties. For example, bitter foods tend to be drying and cold. On the other hand, salty foods tend to be warming and moistening. A balanced diet is one that includes all five tastes—spicy, sour, bitter, sweet, and salty.

The ratio of these tastes will vary according to individual needs and season of the year. The criteria for selecting food according to the body constitution is to restore the body’s yin and yang. In TCM, there are five different types of physical constitution: neutral, yin and cold, yang and hot, phlegm and dampness, and dry. What types of food are important for you and what types of food should be avoided according to your unique body constitution? Please book an online consultation to learn more.

Auricular Diagnosis

Auricular medicine, also called auriculotherapy, is a unique, scientific medical system, which can diagnose and treat more than 200 diseases of the body by examination of the ear pavilion (also known as the auricle, the visible portion of the outer ear). It is based upon embryology, anatomy, genetics, immunology, autonomic nerves, sympathetic and peripheral nerve systems, as well as pathomorphology. Auricular diagnosis is the foundation of auricular medicine, a unique approach to the evaluation of a patient’s state of health. Ear points have been used to treat diseases in China for more than 2,000 years. The ear, known as the window to the brain in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is a very useful tool for both diagnosis and treatment. Based on the theory of “Reversed Embryology”, the ear contains an image or map of the whole body. Ears show the medical conditions of the past, present, and predict prognosis.

Auricular acupuncture treats disease through corresponding auricular points. It is a simple, painless, yet efficient method. According to the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are 200 acupuncture points on each ear corresponding to different parts of the body. In auriculotherapy, a pathological point is determined by the pain caused by the pressure or when using electrical detection. The most used method of auricular acupuncture is the use of auricular seeds. Auricular seed therapy is the placement of small vaccaria seeds on the skin, which are held in place by means of small, square skin-coloured pieces of tape. The seeds are applied to selected auricular points in the ear pavilion and are pressed multiple times a day to stimulate the point and treat various conditions. Auricular seed therapy can be used for a wide range of indications. It is especially useful in quitting smoking, stopping drug and alcohol addictions, treating infertility (male and female), regulating endocrine system disorders, relieving pain, calming the mind, treating allergies, stress, infectious diseases, chronic disease and functional disorders.

Tongue map and internal organs in TCM

Online Tongue Diagnosis

Tongue diagnosis is one of the essential methods of a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis. It is considered a pillar of diagnosis because it provides clearly visible clues to a patient’s pattern of disease. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the tongue always shows the true condition of the patient based on the tongue body and the tongue coating. The tongue body refers to the muscular tissue of the tongue and the tongue coating (fur) refers to a layer of “moss” over the tongue surface, which is produced by the stomach qi. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it was established that four parts of the tongue correspond to different internal organs.

• The tip of the tongue reflects the heart and lungs; 
• The middle part of the tongue represents the spleen and stomach; 
• The root of the tongue corresponds to the kidneys;
• Both sides of the tongue constitute the liver and gallbladder.

Tongue diagnosis is an important method in TCM to detect constitutions such as qi deficiency, yin deficiency, blood stasis, dampness, etc. In tongue diagnosis, observation of the surface of the tongue is mainly focused on the shape, fur, and body of the tongue. By inspecting these features, a TCM doctor can understand the patient’s qi and blood circulation, and whether organs are functioning normally. Observation of the tongue status starts with the visible abnormality which accordingly becomes the basis for pattern identification/syndrome differentiation.
During a tongue consultation, I typically do an analysis of the tongue that includes its size, shape, tension, colour and coating to discover the underlying health issue.