A famous Chinese doctor once said “When a person is sick, the doctor should first regulate the patient’s diet and lifestyle.  In most cases, these changes alone are enough to effect a cure over time.”  Dietary treatments discovered in China in the seventh century are still valid today.  In modern China, dietary therapy and herbs are used with great success to treat a wide variety of disorders such as skin diseases, hepatitis, rheumatism and cancer.  They are used in hospitals to treat illness and are considered Internal Medicine.

When we are born we are given enough substance or essence to sustain us for up to 100 years.  As children we are full of energy and able to repair ourselves easily.  But as we age a natural decline occurs, and if we have not paid attention to replenishing what we were born with, we are scrambling to play catch up to fix the problems that arise due to poor diet, lack of exercise and dealing with our emotional stress.  At this point we start to deplete our substance.  If we don’t take the necessary steps to replenish that substance through eating the right foods, proper physical exercise, meditation or other form of activity, then we make ourselves vulnerable to illness and disease.

Modern society’s view of diet is concerned with convenience rather than substance.  It is focused on the next best thing, going away from the foundation of the whole person - mind, body and spirit.  The relationship between the physical (our essence/substance), functional (our energy or qi) and mental attitude (spirit) must be considered when looking at our health and in relation to the food we eat.

What makes Chinese dietary therapy different from the nutritional recommendations offered in the U.S:

*Each person’s body is viewed as unique and is assessed individually

*The foods that are recommended are specifically chosen for each person’s constitution, lifestyle and health needs

*Specific foods have specific organic actions specific to the functions and organs in our bodies and when applied in a dietary plan

*Certain foods are contraindicated for certain individual’s to allow for healing and health, either temporarily or long term

When you consider health issues such as food allergies (many which are not known), the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the importance of diet and nutrition cannot be ignored.

To begin the process of using Food as Medicine, Chinese medicine looks at the manifestations present in our bodies to form a picture of a disharmony or imbalance.  Once that disharmony or imbalance is identified, then the appropriate dietary therapy plan can be developed and implemented.