Facilitating Acupuncture

Hello dear readers

Today our reading will be about anxiety!

Do you feel anxious? Have you ever wondered if Acupuncture and Diet Therapy techniques can help in such an uncomfortable state of mental agitation?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anxiety is a feeling of unease and concern, generally widespread and unfocused, as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as threatening. It is often accompanied by muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue and problems with concentration.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, anxiety affects the Heart. The Heart is responsible for controlling Shen, that is, the mind. When we are anxious, we have a “Disturbed Shen”, that is, a “Disturbed Mind”.

Every movement of agitation generates an internal heat, and in the case of anxiety, we have Heart Heat. Thus, it is recommended that, in order to feel less anxious, we must “remove the heat from the heart”.

Some points are indicated to decrease the heart heat: HT-7, HT-8, PC-6, PC-7, PC-8.

There are points with the indication of improving anxiety, without necessarily having the function of removing heat from the heart, such as Yintang, GV-20 or ear points of Anxiety, Heart and Emotional Tension.

It is important to know that acupuncture points react to different types of stimuli and not just with needles. If it is not possible to attend to a patient personally, who needs to control anxiety, we can guide him to press these points for 1 to 3 minutes, always bilaterally (when the point exists on both sides). In addition, stimulation with magnets or stiper can also be performed.

Assuming that in anxiety there is Heart Heat, we need to make the patient eat substances that have a cold or fresh essence for this organ, such as melon, watermelon, strawberry, mint, apple, among others.

More foods can be found in the tables available at: https://www.facilitatingacupuncture.com/therapeutic-food-tables/

In addition to the Heart, the Spleen may be impaired and weakened by excessive thoughts. To reduce excessive thoughts, use SP-3 and consume good quality roots like yams and sweet potatoes often in the diet. Teaching the patient to stimulate SP-3 is an excellent way to calm anxiety and improve attention, focus, concentration and the ability to learn new things. These situations are hampered by anxiety.

Remember, anxiety about something good that is going to happen, like a trip, an entry of money into the account or a gift that will be received is normal. But under no circumstances, failing to live in the present waiting for an uncertain future, will be healthy for the body. So are we going to take care of the mind and the heart?

I hope you enjoyed!

A big hug to everyone!

Profa. Fernanda Mara

Hello Readers,

Therapeutical food is an important subject to discuss with our pacient and it’s one of the possible treatment methods with Tradicional Chinese Medicine.

So, this article was made to show you how to use the tables to guide your patient through foods that will help to improve health and rebalance energy.

Basic instructions for use:

1) Choose the Element you want to treat

2) Choose from the list of each element what you want:

a) to heat and / or remove humidity from the element use warm and / or hot foods

b) to cool the element, use fresh and / or cold food

c) to harmonize / strengthen the element use neutral foods

Examples:

To remove humidity from the Spleen, use any food from the Warm or Hot column of the Earth element: cinnamon, anise, licorice, oregano, etc …
To remove dryness of the Lung, use any food from the cold or fresh column of the Metal Element: banana, yogurt, mint, marjoram, etc.
To Strengthen / Harmonize the Liver, use any food from the neutral column of the Wood element: yam, apricot, pineapple, date, etc …

and so on …

Note: there are foods that are present in more than one table.

You can use more than one food of different elements in the same treatment.

** All the tables in this article are a free translation of the book: “Dietoterapia energética según los cinco elementos en la Medicina Tradicional China”, Guerin, P., 2000.

1.Wood Element

Acidic foods or with affinity for the Liver and Gallbladder.

Cold	Fresh	Neutral	Warm	Hot
Yogurt Lime Toranja Grapefruit Rhubarb White sugar Banana Crab Nori seaweed	Wheat Apple Tomato Tangerine Orange Sour Pear Peach Blackberry Strawberry Wheat beer Fresh cheese Bunny Radish Kelp seaweed Mussel Rye Dandelion	Yam Apricot Pineapple Grape Plum Snail Mango Date fruit Azuki Cheese Raspberry duck Royal jelly Olive oil Carrot Saffron Sunflower seed White fish Eggs	Lychee Vinegar Gooseberry Wine Cherry Coconut Leek Star anise Valerian Honeydew Onion Leek	Trout Fennel Shrimp Garlic Black pepper

2.Fire Element 

Bitter food or with affinity for the Heart and Small Intestine.

Cold	Fresh	Neutral	Warm	Hot
Melon Watermelon	Spinach Chard Pear Celery Lettuce Asparagus Wheat Rye Black tea Green tea Mint Wheat beer Dandelion Gentian Chicory	Papaya Apricot Beet Alfalfa Saffron Azuki Egg yolk Cow milk Chamomile Chrysanthemum	Cherry Fresh ginger Cinnamon Rama Rosemary Wine Valerian Chestnuts Coffee Ginseng Tangerine Bark Basil	Garlic Dried ginger Red pepper Nutmeg

3.Earth Element

Foods with a sweet taste or with an affinity for the Spleen and Stomach.

Cold	Fresh	Neutral	Warm	Hot
WheatBanana Lime	Corn Rye Celery Asparagus Chard Lettuce Cress Spinach Kale Zucchini Artichoke Turnip Green Soy Sesame oil Raw egg Pear Orange Blackberry Strawberry Black tea Dandelion Mint Chamomile Lotus root Wheat Eggplant Cucumber Tomato Soy sprouts Tofu Mango Tangerine Apple Green tea	Rice Barley Turnip Pumpkin Green bean Yam Potato Carrot Brussels sprouts Peas Cauliflower Broccoli Sweet potato Shitake Chickpeas Soy Lentils Azuki Sesame Sunflower seed Peanut Almonds Olive oil Beef Liver Pig Oysters Salmon White fish Sardines Cheese Cow milk Egg Fig Mango Papaya Plum Grape Saffron Corn Hair Licorice Royal jelly Honey	Oats Onion Leek Coconut Nuts Chestnuts Soy oil Chicken Shrimp Anchovies Goat milk butter Peach Lychee Cherry Pineapple Date fruit Cinnamon (stick) Rosemary Star anise Oregano Parsley Wine Ginseng Pistachio Fresh ginger Tangerine peal	Anise Licorice Barley malt Fennel

4.Metal Element

Spicy foods or with affinity for the Lung and Large Intestine.

Cold	Fresh	Neutral	Warm	Hot
Wheat germ Yogurt Banana Nori algae	Mint Marjoram Radish Celery Cucumber Cress Turnip Asparagus Spinach Egg white Tangerine Orange Pear Apple Strawberry Green tea	Saffron Rice Carrot Cauliflower Olive Cow milk Cheese Apricot Fig Grape Papaya Honey White fish Peanut Almonds Duck	Basil Capers Cumin Fresh ginger Cinnamon Onion Fennel Leek Valerian Star anise Sage Thyme Oregano Rosemary Angelica sinensis Wine Onion Goat milk Date fruit Pineapple Cilantro Chinese Ginseng Coffee Shrimp Nuts Chestnuts	Carnation Peppers Dried ginger Cinnamon Garlic Korean Ginseng

5. Water Element
Salty food or with affinity for Kidney and Bladder.

Cold	Fresh	Neutral	Warm	Hot
Crab Octopus Nori seaweed Salt Lime Watermelon	Barley Seaweed Wheat Wheat germ Celery Asparagus Green Soy Blackberry Quince Tangerine Orange	Oysters Squid Sepia White fish Sardine Salmon Kombu seaweed Egg yolk Umeboshi Pig Corn Shitake Carrot Pumpkin Keal Black Soy Lentils Azuki Grape Plum Raspberry Black sesame Sunflower seed Duck Corn Silk	Shrimp Mussel Ham Parma ham Miso Oats Leek Onion Ginseng Cumin Star anise Parsley Basil Rosemary Coffee Cherry Lychee Chestnuts Pistachio Nuts Goat milk Kidney Rabbit and sheep Chicken	Garlic Buckwheat Fennel Cinnamon Carnation Black pepper

** Tables in free translation of the book: “Dietoterapia energética según los cinco elementos en la Medicina Tradicional China”, Guerin, P., 2000.

Anxiety – Acupuncture and Chinese Therapeutic Food

Therapeutic Food Tables