Month: December 2013

Dec

2013

Aging and the Elderly Patient

In aging, one must be so careful with everything lest it affect a host of health-related backlash. In treatment of our aging and elderly patients, emphasis of treatment pertains significantly to declining Kidney essence. However, the most serious diseases of aging are also caused by phlegm, blood stasis and internal wind. The pulse of the elderly patient read in Chinese medicine is frequently found to be hard, wiry and slippery. These three factors play a role in the pathologies of aging from which stroke, coronary heart disease, cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are commonly occurring conditions.

Dec

2013

Post-Menopause

A woman, post-menopause, has great potential to realize within herself the wise woman and the mother of her greater community. With her inherent embodiment of female wisdom, post-menopausally she may cultivate the spiritual power of the Sage.

From the progression of blood sent from the Heart down to the Bao Mai [uterus] in preparation for potential growth of a human addition to the world, in menopause, this direction of flow ceases. Rather than blood nourishing the uterus, blood instead remains focused in the Heart to nourish a woman’s own spirit.

Women routinely ask how one keeps their sanity during this transition?

My response is ever-the same:

Nature, Art, Diet, Meditation, Kindness, Chinese Medicine, Movement

Dec

2013

WATER INTAKE AND HEALTH

Turning to traditional Chinese medicine and a Taoist concept of health and long life, one is taught to be moderate in every action and attentive to the signals of the body, and to the prevailing influences of nature. Eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty, we should ingest only enough food and drink to satisfy actual needs, needs which match our level of activity. Advice regarding water intake is to drink only when thirsty or to drink a few sips regularly throughout the day. To consume more than what is essential is considered in defiance of natural balance.

There are obvious cases where higher fluid consumption is important, such as for people who are perspiring profusely [due to exercise, hot weather, or resulting from a feverish disease], those who are losing fluids due to diarrhea, as well as one who tends to form kidney stones. But by eating the suggested five servings of fruit per day, plentiful amounts of water are provided; many fruits and vegetables being more than 80% water in content.

Most yin quality foods in a healthy diet contain a significant quantity of water making it feasible to get the 2.5 liters a day without drinking copious amounts of water. However, the popular impression is that for good health one must drink 2.5 liters of water per day, when essentially, emphasis needs to be placed upon consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, not on high volume water-intake. Health advisories recommend that sedentary women consume approximately 2,000 calories per day, for which the suggested 1 ml/calorie translates to only 2.0 liters of total water needed. Adding 1.9 liters of water from drinking glass after glass of water simply doubles such suggested intake.

Drinking large volumes of water appears to be inconsistent with age-old advice regarding health maintenance.