“There exist no miraculous methods in the world, only plain ones, but the perfection of the plain is miraculous.”
Fei Boxiong 1863
“Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted”.
Chinese proverb
“Taking medicine but neglecting diet wastes the skills of the physician”
Chinese proverb
“When eating stop when you are seven tenths full”
Chinese proverb
To nurture one’s life and health is mainly accomplished by cultivating one’s mind. If the mind is calm and clear, the spirit is in a pure and healthy world. If the spirit is in a healthy world, how can illness enter you?
— Liang Wen Ke (Qing Dynasty)
Reference: Qi Journal, Summer 2016, page 7.
Newsletter wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!
Here’s a pdf version too: Happy Chinese New Year!
Seeing that Integrative Medicine is making great crossroads into the American healthcare system, I decided to write an article discussing this. It was published in Lotus Guide, April/May/June 2015 issue.
I also cover this warning: “Americans: Do NOT Assume OTC Drugs Are Safe!”
2015: Current State of Integrative Medicine in the U.S.
Thanks to John Weeks, of the Integrator Blog whose great posts gave me the inspiration for this for article too (see references in article)!
From Harper’s Magazine Harper’s Index, September 2014 (p. 9):
‘Year in which the World Health Organization began keeping records on global obesity: 1980 ′
‘Number of years since then in which at least one country has reduced its obesity rate: 0’
Reference: World Health Organization (Geneva)
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
Summer: Season of Excess Fire or Yang
Here’s a pdf version of this newsletter (but unfortunately, links do not work):
Summer: Season of Excess Fire or Yang
Dr. Maoshing Ni, or Dr. Mao as he is affectionately known, is a 38th-generation doctor of Chinese medicine and co-founder of Yo San University, a college of Traditional Chinese Medicine in southern California. He is considered ‘an authority on Taoist anti-aging medicine’ and has written many books on this topic. I think my favorite books are “Secrets of Longevity” for its common-sense wisdom in an easy-to-read format (which I have referenced many times for my patients’ use), “Second Spring“, another easy reference about treating menopausal symptoms naturally,” and his latest book, “Secrets of Longevity Cookbook” (I wrote a review of this cookbook that can be found here). Dr. Mao has become more famous in recent years due to his appearances on the Dr. Oz show – kudos to him for bringing Chinese Medicine to the masses, I say!!
I also now carry some of Dr. Mao’s wellness products, see my previous blog post.
For more information about Dr. Mao and Chinese Medicine, see his websites:
Ask Dr. Mao
Tao of Wellness
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
Referenced in this newsletter is a “Chinese Medicine and Food Therapy Lecture Series” talk that I will give on September 26, 2013. Those lecture notes will be posted on my blog soon thereafter (and will be referenced here)!
Here’s a pdf version of this newsletter (but unfortunately, links do not work):
Autumn – A Time to Nourish
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
Referenced in this newsletter is a “Chinese Medicine and Food Therapy Lecture Series” I started in April 2013. I gave a lecture entitled “Spring – Time to Tame the Liver!”©. Lecture notes will be posted on my blog soon (and will be referenced here)!
Here’s a pdf version of this newsletter:
Spring – A Time for Renewal
This newsletter includes a few book reviews also.
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is the world standard of herbal medicine and these guidelines are used, amongt testing for heavy metals, pesticides and bacteria, by Evergreen Herbs, a family-run business with 3 generations of Chinese herbal scholars bringing quality medicine to practitioners and patients alike. Keep in mind also that most herbs are coming from Taiwan, so why the quality is so high. Evergreen Herbs and Herb Safety The formulas are fantastic and bring my patients much healing! The pharmacology tomes written by John Chen and Tina Chen are a boom to phytomedicine worldwide and research is the basis of this materia medica. Order book: Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology from Evergreen Herbs or Amazon.
Look at all the research showing Traditional Asian Medicine is an important medicine that works – the 8 branches of this medicine are Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, Tui Na Massage and other manual therapies (cupping, gua sha), Dietary Therapy, Astrology and Caligraphy!!!! (And I think I am somehow missing Feng Shui but it may fit into the Astrology branch.) The last two are very important, unique arts, and therefore, medicinal themselves!) All are represented here: Qi Journal and Traditonal Chinese Medicine Research
(52) – “percentage of Americans who think figuring out their income taxes is easier than Knowing how to eat healthy. Go figure.”1
I don’t know what to say other then this is definitely pathetic! What and/or where do people think food comes from? It is just strange that generally Americans are out of touch with the earth and its gardens, and the bounty of it all, which sustains them. It is not only Taoist ‘to be at one with the earth’, to live within its greatness, it is plain necessary, so how can it be ignored, or more to this point, how can it be hard to eat healthy by eating the food from the earth’s gardens and animal abundance?
1From “This & That” of Relish Magazine (relish.com), p. 2, Feb. 2013 issue
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
Acupuncture Today, ‘The Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine News Source”.
This monthly publication has a plethora of articles highlighting how Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine helps treat medical conditions, plus industry news for practitioners.
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
Spring: A Time for Cleansing and New Personal Care Products?
This newsletter includes a few book reviews also.
Doctor, I have an earache
2000 B.C. “Here, eat this root.”
1000 B.C. “That root is heathen, say this prayer.”
1850 A.D. “That prayer is superstition, drink this potion.”
1940 A.D. “That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic.:
2000 A.D. “That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.”
One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.
—Sir William Osler (1859-1919), ‘best-known physician in the English-speaking world at the turn of the century’(One of my favorite quotes – have displayed it in the office for years!)
Heavenly Herbs and Acupuncture Newsletter:
A lot of pain that we are dealing with are really only THOUGHTS.