Advising clients on health and wellness is a funny thing, funny because it’s just a process, and expecting our practitioners to be perfect is unrealistic. In acupuncture school, one of the students observed a certain Dr. T eating at Jack in the Box and expressed shock at his “hypocrisy” – I chimed in that “we don’t know how far he’s come,” and that’s what counts. Really, very few of us can rigidly and monkishly perfect our adherence to dietary and lifestyle changes. Treating oneself like some sort of hothouse orchid who survives only on a precious range of nutrients … well, who wants to live like that, and as living among family and friends is also important to our health, so we need resources to handle those times when we cannot choose exactly what we’re having for dinner. That’s where I can help. My philosophy is that practice makes progress, and incremental improvement is the aim; we can make meaningful changes, and part of TCM, particularly herbology, enables us to repair those (hopefully occasional) transgressions during celebrations, family visits, etc.
Ironically after 4 years studying acupuncture, oriental medical theory and herbal medicine, most acupuncture students get a little … unbalanced. Even in school, I managed to make lasting dietary changes, namely cutting waaay down on dairy and gluten. Can’t quite cut those things out 100%, but cutting down 90% has alleviated many low grade issues such as occasional heartburn, joint stiffness, and phlegmy throat (boogers, too, if you must know). Occasionally when I go do overboard and have ice cream or pasta I feel it and know why – but I also have formulas on hand to handle the phlegm. A recent book that has influenced how I think about gluten in particular is Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD, a cardiologist. http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/. The author succinctly and convincingly makes the case that the hybridized wheat we have been consuming for the past 40 years is largely responsible for much of the obesity and poor health we are seeing in the US today. Also here are some videos http://www.youtube.com/user/wheatbelly …