TCM Nutrition Consultation

When it comes to supporting health and wellness, which approach provides greater benefit over the long run: relying on occasional short-term interventions for health issues as they arise, or consistently implementing more mild practices aimed at maintaining optimal functioning on an everyday basis?

You make excellent points about the power of nutrition when approached holistically as a lifestyle component rather than a single meal. Our overall health trajectories are heavily shaped by long-term dietary habits and how connected we remain to natural rhythms like seasons.

I too enjoy how cooking and sharing meals can foster self-care, community and gratitude. Food choice presents opportunities to honor our current season of life and internal climate. Chinese medicine excels at preventative, person-centered approaches – tailoring nutritional guidelines to one’s constitution, current needs and lifetime experiences.

As part of treatment, I aim to gently encourage small dietary shifts that harmonize mind, body and spirit in sync with nature’s cycles. My role is to respectfully guide reconnection with our innate wisdom for balanced thriving, not strict rules. I appreciate your openness to exploring this meaningful facet of healing through Traditional Chinese Medicine. Moving forward, please share what resonates for your well-being – our journey is one of learning together.

Here are a few key ideas from nutritional therapy in Traditional Chinese Medicine:

Foods have energetic qualities – hot, warm, cool, cold – and flavors – sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty. These properties influence which organ systems are affected.
Pears, for example, are cooling and sweet. So they nourish fluids, especially in the lungs. Cooling foods are useful in conditions with excess heat like inflammation.
Taste refers not just to flavor but functional attributes. Hot/spicy rises and scatters, while sour assists digestion.
A balanced diet relies on synergy between various flavors in a meal. Chinese cuisine pairs foods so their benefits complement each other, rather than focusing on strict proportions.
Rice or noodles form the base, with small amounts of protein, vegetables representing sour/bitter/hot flavors, and occasional salt. Not every taste need be in each dish.
Combinations are chosen to appeal to the senses as well as nourish body and mind. Expert chefs blend flavors optimally for health and enjoyment.

The goal is gentle, multifaceted support of well-being through harmony with nature’s rhythms – including how we sustain ourselves with nourishment prepared with care, appreciation, and wisdom of tradition.

How seasonal eating aligns with our inner rhythms:

Our appetite and digestion naturally shift according to the climate cycles our bodies are adapted to. In winter, when nature’s energy lies dormant underground waiting to rise again with spring’s warmth, we intuitively crave nourishment with slow-cooking depth.

This matches how our Qi (vital energy) moves at a quieter pace within as digestion demands less externally-directed heat expenditure. Cold foods don’t deliver satisfying nutrition when reserves are lowest. Soups, stews allow nutrients to release slowly over consumption for optimal uptake.

Conversely, summer’s peak outdoor vitality energetically matches our desire for light, colorful meals prepared swiftly yet deliberately. Stir-fries, salads require less internal heat-generation leaving us feeling in tune with nature’s bounty.

Rather than rigid rules, TCM enlightens us on our deep intrinsic awareness constantly guiding dietary choices. Appreciating such subtle yet profound wisdom cultivates joy as seasons flow smoothly within us, reminding that healing resides not in the “what” so much as how we connect with each moment. Life’s simple rhythms sustain health when heartfully embraced.

Dr.Zerquera

OMD, AP, PhD

Oriental Medicine

Functional Medicine

Physical Therapy

Homeopathy

Nutrition

Orthomolecular Medicine