 With a Chinese diagnosis it is possible to recognise foods that will disrupt or inhibit action for an individual, and to diagnose which foods will strengthen and harmonise that person's function. This is not about being on a diet! It is about knowing which foods will support you, and which foods will inhibit you, as well as understanding cooking methods and eating habits that will increase your good health. This is an area of special interest for Jani and she has been studying this for many years. For fertility this can be one of the most strengthening aspects of treatment and will help to increase the health of the baby when conception can occur.
For children this is an essential part of her treatment process. Children's bodies change so rapidly and develop so continuously that food is the single most important aspect of how we care for our children (Rock on Jamie Oliver!!). How foods may affect children is determined by how they are nourished during pregnancy. The impact of the food we eat is underestimated in this society, and we are faced with a worrying lack of good food quality.
How we feed our foetuses and infants will help to determine how their bodies develop and will ultimately help to determine the health of that individual as an adult.
The Chinese diagnosis is a constitutional one. What this means is that the practitioner is able, through your history, pulse and tongue diagnosis, through palpation and by looking at your presenting symptoms, to be able to diagnose the status within the whole system.
Chinese medicine divides the functions of the body into meridian systems, rather than dividing the body into systems of function. For instance, with something like asthma, in Western medicine one might look at the function of the respiratory system. In Chinese diagnosis one would look at the relationship between the Kidney meridian system and the Lung meridian system to understand a disharmony in respiratory function.
It is important to try and explain this difference to help explain what the Chinese refer to as the 'Energetics of Food'.
The study of food as medicine in Chinese tradition is as long as it's history. The categorisations in Chinese medicine relate to food as well, meaning that we recognise the actions of certain foods on certain systems or organs or function will have a beneficial or detrimental effect. This is a form of medicine in its own right.
The Chinese say that "Food is the first medicine" (They believe that acupuncture is the 7 th form of intervention). This aspect of Jani's diagnosis means that you are able to extend your treatment into your own kitchen and greatly enhance your body's own ability to improve it's function through this beneficial support.
For more thoughts about food take a look at Fertility - a vital diet on our Fertility page |
