Nutrition
Chinese medicine has a completely different way to look at nutrition
Once you understand your internal landscape more, it makes so much sense in terms of what needs changing and how to address that with your food. Want to know how to improve your fertility nutrition? Your pregnancy and kid’s nutrition? Your family’s nutrition? Read on…
What is Chinese Dietary Therapy?
Your diet is something you can develop an understanding of to learn how to support your own health. Chinese dietary therapy looks at food from the unique perspective of energetics. Foods are divided into groups according to whether they are hot or cold, damp or dry, cool or warm and neutral.
Your body also has a tendency towards one or a few of these conditions and so we match what you need to balance your body.
Nutrition is an integral part of every client’s treatment strategy.
We match the types of food that will help to balance your internal landscape, not only in a physical sense but an emotional one too.
Fertility nutrition
When we consult with you for your fertility, we always assess your diet as this is paramount when it comes to optimising fertility. We assess your body from the Chinese medicine perspective and will then give advice on what to eat that will balance you out. You may need to eat foods that are more warming as many women have a ‘colder’ womb. If you are blood deficient then eating more protein is appropriate.
Certain foods you may be eating regularly may be hindering the healing process, so we figure out what those are and give you recommendations on what foods are best suited to you.
Pregnancy nutrition
We give advice on what foods will work best for you during the different trimesters. Often in the third trimester, foods that are more moving and less stagnant are favoured, so as to reduce inflammation and improve the chances of a trouble-free birth.
We then give you handouts on nutrition for your Golden Month – the all important first month post birth. Foods that are high in protein and that are warming are the best for you at this stage. You’ll receive a weekly meal plan so you’re ready to go with your new bundle of joy.
Children’s nutrition
Children’s health changes much faster than adults once you change their diet.
Adults have much deeper set patterns than children do. Their patterns are affected by emotions, memories and experiences from their childhoods, so they can take more time to shift.
Children have had less time for patterns to become so set in. The younger they are, the easier they are to change. Parents are often surprised by how quickly their child’s health changes, once their food has changed!
Individualised meal plans
Your practitioner may suggest creating one of these for you or your child, or indeed the whole family, at an additional cost. It can be an excellent way of taking the hassle out of food preparation. Whilst you’ll always be given tips on what will suit your body best, this plan goes into much more detail. Often a variety of ways of looking at food is appropriate (gluten-free, anti-inflammatory, paleo etc) and so all of these can be taken into account to make it easy for you.
We know your lives are busy and full, so you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing your fertility nutrition, your pregnancy nutrition, yours and your kid’s nutrition, is taken care of!
Want to read more about the Chinese diet? Check out this gem from the Webmed archives.