Guest guest Posted July 4, 2000 Report Share Posted July 4, 2000 Rhonda, I recently found a new book at the airport on my way to Florida. The title is A Natural Guide to Weight Loss That Lasts by Nan Lu. The book sets out a six week program of diet and exercise and everything is based on Traditional to help with weight loss. The exercises are very simple Qigong exercises. The diet is also very simple--fruits and vegetables for six weeks. The author, Nan Lu, is an Oriental Medicine Doctor and Licensed Acupuncturist. I believe he has a practice in New York City. There is a list of suggested fruits and vegetables chosen specifically for bringing heat into the body and moving Qi. The diet looks a bit spartan to me, and I believe just about anyone would lose weight eating nothing but fruits and vegies for six weeks. His theory is that if you eliminate all the meat, dairy, and carbohydrates in the forms of grains and breads, your body has more energy to use to rid itself of fat. I am going to try the program to lose only 15 to 20 pounds. The exercises are very good and easy to do. He also gives some breathing exercises to use to get rid of hunger pangs. He covers the TCM functions of the liver, lung, kidney, spleen, heart. This book is a good one to read if you are interested in TCM, but have little background in it. It's a good starter book in addition to being a program for weight loss and energy building. He calls his plan " The Dragon's Way " . There are many testimonials in the book from people who have successfully completed the six week program. I liked the book very much. It was an easy read for me and very motivational. You can order the book with a credit card by going to http://www.amazon.com Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Lynn Rhonda Fremen-Young <rj_fremenyoung Chinese Traditional Medicine <Chinese Traditional Medicine > Tuesday, July 04, 2000 4:04 PM [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Losing Weight >Dear List: > >What would be the preferred method of weight loss for an obese person? >I am wanting to lose weight (115 lbs, to be exact) and was wondering what >some on this list might suggest. I have tried every " diet " and can't stick >with anything. Two years ago, I lost 36 pounds. But, when I hit a plateau, I >became discouraged and quit. I then regained the 36 pounds plus 16 more! > >I have seen the doctor and had an EKG run. There's no reason why I can't >start a diet/exercise program. Trouble is...*which* one do I follow? Any >tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > >Thank you, >Rhonda > >______________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > > >------ >0% Introductory APR! >Instant Approval! >Aria Visa - get yours today. >http://click./1/6035/14/_/701177/_/962741048/ >------ > > > Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine > Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner > >Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 Yes, I agree with you Victoria. I think his diet is pretty extreme for most people. Although for someone who has really been eating poorly, six weeks on this cleansing diet might be a good thing. But for anyone who is already a vegetarian, eating little fat and no dairy, the diet just doesn't have enough food to sustain. And your point about knowing whether you are too hot or too cold is well taken. He does say that you are supposed to eat red fruit--red grapefruit, apples, mangoes, red grapes, watermelon, oranges, strawberries, tangerines. According to the author, these red fruits are supposed to be warmer than other fruits. And all of the vegies are supposed to be cooked--nothing raw. I checked Henry Lu's Chinese System of Food Cures and all of these red fruits are either cool, cold, or neutral. According to Henry Lu, cherries, dates, guava, peach, and raspberries are warm fruits, but none of these are on the allowed list from the diet book. I also like the Qigong exercises. They are deceptively simple. Lynn Judy Fitzgerald <victoria_dragon Chinese Traditional Medicine <Chinese Traditional Medicine > Wednesday, July 05, 2000 10:45 AM Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Losing Weight >>I recently found a new book at the airport on my way to Florida. The title >>is A Natural Guide to Weight Loss That Lasts by Nan Lu. The book sets out >>a >>six week program of diet and exercise and everything is based on >>Traditional >> to help with weight loss. > >I have some reservations about the diet set forth in this book and need to >speak about them. This is a diet that would be ok for most people, but >would wreck havoc for someone like me who has some severe Cold and Yang >Deficiency problems. It's a good general start for many, perhaps most >people, but I don't think he went into tailoring the diet for individuals >enough. For example, someone like me who is very Cold needs to eat cooked >(no raw) veggies and fruits, and needs to load them down with warming herbs. >The more someone knows about TCM, the better use the person can make of this >book. > >I found the Qigong exercises to be excellent. These definitely will get >Stagnant Qi moving. You can feel it moving. He recommends practing the >first 5 and last for a week or so, and then adding the rest. I made the >mistake of going through all 10 the first time. That was definitely too much >for a beginner like me. > >He chose so well that your form doesn't have to be perfect when doing these. > They will get Qi moving. > >Victoria > >______________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > > >------ >Was the salesman clueless? Productopia has the answers. >http://click./1/4633/14/_/701177/_/962808323/ >------ > > > Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine > Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner > >Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 >What would be the preferred method of weight loss for an obese person? >I am wanting to lose weight (115 lbs, to be exact) and was wondering what >some on this list might suggest. First let me say that what Americans consider overweight and what the Chinese (and many other people around the world) consider overweight varies greatly. The emphasis in TCM is on what is the healthiest for the individual. There can be a wide range of body sizes that are healthy for the individual in TCM. The emphasis is on restoring balance to the person. The sizes of balanced individuals are going to vary greatly according to the individual. Having said this, TCM sees obesity (true obesity - not someone who is a size 8 wanting to be a size 4) as often having a Root of Qi Deficiency often coupled with Qi Stagnation. (The little Qi there is isn't flowing smoothly.) Because Qi is Deficient, Dampness accumulates, and because there is Stagnation, the Dampness congeals into Phlegm. Warner J.W. Fan, M.D., in A Manual of Chinese Herbal Medicine also says that Wind invasion also is common in obesity. (p. 121) The perfect weight loss diet for an individual - like the perfect treatment for everything else in is going to vary greatly. You also will need to take into account if you are too Hot or too Cold as this is going to impact on what is right for you. For example, a person who is too Hot may need to go heavily on foods with cooling energy in order to help resolve Hot Phlegm. A person who is too Cold would need more warming foods in order to improve metabolism and to help resolve Cold Phlegm. The Chinese definition of a balanced diet is also very different from the American definition. A TCM balanced diet is one which contains all 5 tastes - Sour (Wood), Bitter (Fire), Sweet (Earth), Spicy (Metal), and Salty (Water). I can tell you from personal experience that eating a meal which contains all 5 tastes can go a long way towards satisfying hunger, which turn can help weight loss. Chinese Natural Cures by Henry C. Lu has a lot of information on the tastes and properties (warming or cooling or neutral energy, good for Qi, Phlegm relieving, etc.) of various foods. The ISBN is 1-57912-056-3. If your local library doesn't have a copy, it can order it for you through interlibrary loan. This is a free service in most parts of the country. In some areas you have to pay the postage on the book. Armed with Chinese Nautral Cures and The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley Miller (which I picked up cheap at a used book store), I've been able to help myself with diet. BTW, the Chinese consider diet to be the first line of defense for good health. There are posts in the archieves about the taste of foods and herbs and how this relates to their properties. Search for Sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, salty, and bland. (The bland herbs often have the property of draining dampness from the body.) The American viewpoint is that people often are obese because they do not exercise. The more realistic (I think) TCM viewpoint is that both the obesity and the not exercising is coming from a common Root - Qi (energy) Deficiency. The person simply does not have the energy to exercise, and attempts to do so without first supplementing Qi are doomed to failure. TCM also realizes that when obesity is a manifestation of an imbalance, the obesity is not the only problem the person has. In fact, it's usually one of the least serious problems the person has. The American viewpoint is the person has heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing problems, etc. because of the obesity. The TCM viewpoint is the person has all these things AND obesity because of an imbalance in the body. Losing weight may bring the blood pressure down some, but usually not enough. The underlying imbalance of both the high blood pressure and the obesity still has to be treated. I want to caution you against using Ma Huang or any formula containing Ma Huang for weight loss. Some very ignorant and in some cases unscrupulous manufacturers of weight loss formulas are including Ma Huang in their formulas. In TCM Ma Huang is never prescribed for weight loss. Why? Because Ma Huang's chief function is to Relieve Wind Chill. It " releases the Exterior and disperses Cold. " (Wicke, vol. 2, p. 29) It also makes you sweat - which is just what a person coming down with a cold or the flu (Wind Cold) needs. BUT, over time, dispersing herbs will deplete Qi. Definitely not what a person who is obese because of Qi Deficiency needs - an herb that will make the person even more Qi Deficient. Ma Huang may be prescribed temporarily for an obese person in cases where the person has a legitimate need for it (say a person with some types of asthma or who is coming down with a cold or in some cases of seasonal allergies), but it is never prescribed for obesity or long-term for anything. The temporary energy boost that Ma Huang can give actually will erode Qi energy in the longrun. >I have tried every " diet " and can't stick >with anything. Two years ago, I lost 36 pounds. But, when I hit a plateau, >I >became discouraged and quit. I then regained the 36 pounds plus 16 more! These diets and programs have failed to correct an underlying imbalance and to satisfy needs of your body. When you find a diet that corrects the imbalance(s) and gives your body what it needs, you will find it much easier to stick to the diet. One of the reasons you will find it easier to stick to a diet which is right for you is that you will be aware that not only is the diet causing you to lose weight, it's correcting a lot of other things. For example, a diet that is clearing up say allergies, correcting a tendency to constipation, stopping hypoglycemic faints, and giving you lots of energy at the same time as you're losing weight and without your feeling like you're starving is a lot easier to stay on than one on which you're just losing weight (but have reached a plateau), is not doing anything for other problems (and may even be aggravating them), and is causing you fatigue all while you feel like you're starving. Also, there can be a great deal of resentment over feeling like you're starving just to lose weight. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 >I recently found a new book at the airport on my way to Florida. The title >is A Natural Guide to Weight Loss That Lasts by Nan Lu. The book sets out >a >six week program of diet and exercise and everything is based on >Traditional > to help with weight loss. I have some reservations about the diet set forth in this book and need to speak about them. This is a diet that would be ok for most people, but would wreck havoc for someone like me who has some severe Cold and Yang Deficiency problems. It's a good general start for many, perhaps most people, but I don't think he went into tailoring the diet for individuals enough. For example, someone like me who is very Cold needs to eat cooked (no raw) veggies and fruits, and needs to load them down with warming herbs. The more someone knows about TCM, the better use the person can make of this book. I found the Qigong exercises to be excellent. These definitely will get Stagnant Qi moving. You can feel it moving. He recommends practing the first 5 and last for a week or so, and then adding the rest. I made the mistake of going through all 10 the first time. That was definitely too much for a beginner like me. He chose so well that your form doesn't have to be perfect when doing these. They will get Qi moving. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 Having grown up with overweight people all my life and being a member of the club, I can feel your struggle. I have seen acupuncture and chinese herbs work for weight control. But this was due to the person being horribly out of balance. As with most things chinese medicine is not designed for weight control. There is a point however in the ear which has been rumored to be useful in curbing cravings for food. Honestly I have not seen this to be all that effective. It is the hunger point and can be found on most ear charts. It is actually on the side of the face close to the ear. I would highly recommend that you read some books on TCM Nutrition which outlines how to eat for your type of person. Bob Flaws seems to keep things simple and easy to understand and makes sense. The way that I was most successful in losing weight however was with Weight Watchers. This was due in part to the way the program is laid out. You can have anything that you want but once your points are gone they are gone. I lost 50 pounds that way two years ago and have kept most of it off. It is important to re-train how we eat and not just starve to the weight we want to achieve. I might also suggest that you see a TCM Practitioner for some suggestions on how to work with your type as indicated by TCM. For me sugar is a real problem (it is so bad on so many levels) which in turn relates to a spleen deficiency. So I really watch my spleen, stomach and liver as they have a tendency to get soggy and sluggish. I am currently drying out with herbs. LOL LOL Dairy is the other thing I avoid as it makes an excess of phlegm as does gluten which is in most bread and cereal products. Plus being a fire person I really try to keep my spicy things to a minimum (that is so difficult I love spicy). Always remember that Ice Cream is the kiss of death, it cools the stomach to much, has dairy and sugar. Hope this helps and good luck. Try to do something with a friend or spouse it is so much easier. Shane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 >Dairy is the other thing I avoid as it makes an excess of phlegm as does >gluten which is in most bread and cereal products. I want readers to keep in mind that dairy is one of the worst culprits for producing Phlegm, and that TCM views Phlegm as one of the possible Roots of obesity. >Plus being a fire person I really try to keep my spicy things to a minimum >(that is so difficult I love spicy). I'm the opposite from you - too Cold. The only way I can lose weight (and correct some other problems) is to load food down with spicy, warming herbs. Otherwise, I still feel like I'm starving. In TCM, the textbooks will tell you that excessive appetite is due to Stomach Fire or Fire Phlegm. Part of the treatment for this is cooling herbs and foods. But, I know from personal experience that excessive appetite also can be due to being too Cold, in which case herbs and foods with cooling energy are just going to make the excessive appetite worse. In a case like mine, the heating herbs and foods are required to bring the appetite back to normal. I sprinkle cayenne, red pepper, and various other hot seasonings on green beans, summer squash, collard greens, etc., and feel very satisfied after eating them. Because of my own Dampness and Phlegm problems, I started making biscuits with no milk. >Always remember that Ice Cream is the kiss of death, it cools the stomach >to much, has dairy and sugar. As it's been explained to me, the food has to be a certain temperature in order for the Qi to be extracted. When a person eats ice cream (or any other food or drink with excessive Cold energy), the body first has to warm it up to the right temperature. This takes energy that a Qi Deficient (or a Yang Deficient) person can ill-afford. Sometimes it doesn't get warmed up enough. In this case it's like a doss in the system. And ice cream has that added disadvantage of containing dairy. A little ice cream once in a while isn't going to hurt a person who has plenty of Qi and enough Yang and who isn't too cold and who doesn't have Phlegm problems. But it can be a very damaging food for the Qi Deficient, the Yang Deficient, the too Cold, and those with Phlegm problems. Victoria Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 Bob Flaws has some good information on food and nutrition. It is my understanding as well that food which is to cold will not digest properly and assimilate as it should. I might also mention that most things I have read in TCM Nutrition will discourage especially someone like me from eating a lot of fruit. Fruit can also create lots of phlegm as it contains large amounts of sugar. Flaws also discourages drinking lots of fruit juice. He equates drinking one glass to eating 6-7 oranges or whatever the fruit may be. I am glad Victoria that you talked about Ma Huang because it is so dangerous and cause a multitude of problems if not used properly. The acupuncturist that I work with said the chinese refer to it as the Chinese Cocaine. Thought I might mention this to show the dangers and power of this herb. Flaws also discourages eating of raw vegetables, he states that the body has to work harder to break down the raw veggy and is unable to extract as many vitamins. We believe that by cooking a veggy we take out some of the vitamin content. We do but we still absorb more vitamins in a cooked veggy than in a raw one. Because the stomach can turn it to mush quicker and absorb the vitamins and then move it on. Shane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2000 Report Share Posted July 5, 2000 A big " Thank you! " to Shane, Lynn, and Victoria for all of your help and suggestions! I'm starting to get the idea on the Hot and Cold thing. But what I need to know now is how do I distinguish whether or not I'm Hot/Cold or Yin/Yang? Is there a " checklist " of some kind? On my most recent diet, I tried to eat just fruits and vegetables---all cold/raw---and I was *always* hungry! How can I find out what foods would be best for my particular body-type? (I've also read that even exercises can be geared to one's body-type or they won't work either.) You guys have been great! Thanks again! Rhonda > " Judy Fitzgerald " <victoria_dragon >Chinese Traditional Medicine >Chinese Traditional Medicine >Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Losing Weight >Wed, 05 Jul 2000 07:16:32 PDT > > >What would be the preferred method of weight loss for an obese person? > >I am wanting to lose weight (115 lbs, to be exact) and was wondering what > >some on this list might suggest. > >First let me say that what Americans consider overweight and what the >Chinese (and many other people around the world) consider overweight varies >greatly. The emphasis in TCM is on what is the healthiest for the >individual. There can be a wide range of body sizes that are healthy for >the >individual in TCM. The emphasis is on restoring balance to the person. The >sizes of balanced individuals are going to vary greatly according to the >individual. > >Having said this, TCM sees obesity (true obesity - not someone who is a >size >8 wanting to be a size 4) as often having a Root of Qi Deficiency often >coupled with Qi Stagnation. (The little Qi there is isn't flowing >smoothly.) Because Qi is Deficient, Dampness accumulates, and because there >is Stagnation, the Dampness congeals into Phlegm. Warner J.W. Fan, M.D., >in >A Manual of Chinese Herbal Medicine also says that Wind invasion also is >common in obesity. (p. 121) > >The perfect weight loss diet for an individual - like the perfect treatment >for everything else in is going to vary greatly. You also will need >to take into account if you are too Hot or too Cold as this is going to >impact on what is right for you. For example, a person who is too Hot may >need to go heavily on foods with cooling energy in order to help resolve >Hot >Phlegm. A person who is too Cold would need more warming foods in order to >improve metabolism and to help resolve Cold Phlegm. > >The Chinese definition of a balanced diet is also very different from the >American definition. A TCM balanced diet is one which contains all 5 >tastes >- Sour (Wood), Bitter (Fire), Sweet (Earth), Spicy (Metal), and Salty >(Water). I can tell you from personal experience that eating a meal which >contains all 5 tastes can go a long way towards satisfying hunger, which >turn can help weight loss. > >Chinese Natural Cures by Henry C. Lu has a lot of information on the tastes >and properties (warming or cooling or neutral energy, good for Qi, Phlegm >relieving, etc.) of various foods. The ISBN is 1-57912-056-3. If your >local library doesn't have a copy, it can order it for you through >interlibrary loan. This is a free service in most parts of the country. In >some areas you have to pay the postage on the book. > >Armed with Chinese Nautral Cures and The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook >by >Gloria Bley Miller (which I picked up cheap at a used book store), I've >been >able to help myself with diet. BTW, the Chinese consider diet to be the >first line of defense for good health. There are posts in the archieves >about the taste of foods and herbs and how this relates to their >properties. > Search for Sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, salty, and bland. (The bland >herbs >often have the property of draining dampness from the body.) > >The American viewpoint is that people often are obese because they do not >exercise. The more realistic (I think) TCM viewpoint is that both the >obesity and the not exercising is coming from a common Root - Qi (energy) >Deficiency. The person simply does not have the energy to exercise, and >attempts to do so without first supplementing Qi are doomed to failure. >TCM >also realizes that when obesity is a manifestation of an imbalance, the >obesity is not the only problem the person has. In fact, it's usually one >of the least serious problems the person has. The American viewpoint is >the >person has heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing >problems, >etc. because of the obesity. The TCM viewpoint is the person has all these >things AND obesity because of an imbalance in the body. Losing weight may >bring the blood pressure down some, but usually not enough. The underlying >imbalance of both the high blood pressure and the obesity still has to be >treated. > >I want to caution you against using Ma Huang or any formula containing Ma >Huang for weight loss. Some very ignorant and in some cases unscrupulous >manufacturers of weight loss formulas are including Ma Huang in their >formulas. In TCM Ma Huang is never prescribed for weight loss. Why? >Because >Ma Huang's chief function is to Relieve Wind Chill. It " releases the >Exterior and disperses Cold. " (Wicke, vol. 2, p. 29) It also makes you >sweat >- which is just what a person coming down with a cold or the flu (Wind >Cold) >needs. BUT, over time, dispersing herbs will deplete Qi. Definitely not >what a person who is obese because of Qi Deficiency needs - an herb that >will make the person even more Qi Deficient. Ma Huang may be prescribed >temporarily for an obese person in cases where the person has a legitimate >need for it (say a person with some types of asthma or who is coming down >with a cold or in some cases of seasonal allergies), but it is never >prescribed for obesity or long-term for anything. The temporary energy >boost >that Ma Huang can give actually will erode Qi energy in the longrun. > > >I have tried every " diet " and can't stick > >with anything. Two years ago, I lost 36 pounds. But, when I hit a >plateau, > >I > >became discouraged and quit. I then regained the 36 pounds plus 16 more! > >These diets and programs have failed to correct an underlying imbalance and >to satisfy needs of your body. When you find a diet that corrects the >imbalance(s) and gives your body what it needs, you will find it much >easier >to stick to the diet. One of the reasons you will find it easier to stick >to >a diet which is right for you is that you will be aware that not only is >the >diet causing you to lose weight, it's correcting a lot of other things. >For >example, a diet that is clearing up say allergies, correcting a tendency to >constipation, stopping hypoglycemic faints, and giving you lots of energy >at >the same time as you're losing weight and without your feeling like you're >starving is a lot easier to stay on than one on which you're just losing >weight (but have reached a plateau), is not doing anything for other >problems (and may even be aggravating them), and is causing you fatigue all >while you feel like you're starving. Also, there can be a great deal of >resentment over feeling like you're starving just to lose weight. > >Victoria > >______________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2000 Report Share Posted July 6, 2000 >Bob Flaws has some good information on food and nutrition. I did a search on amazon.com for Flaws titles, and came up with the following on food. The Tao of Healthy Eating by Bob Flaws - hardcover $12.95. The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges, A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast. This is a special order paperback, $16.95. Prince Wen Hui's Cook: Chinese Dietary Therapy by Bob Flaws and Honora Wolf, paperback, $12.95, special order. I was thinking he had done one specifically on weight loss, but I either missed it yesterday or was mistaken. >Flaws also discourages eating of raw vegetables, he states that the body >has to work harder to break down the raw veggy and is unable to extract as >many vitamins. We believe that by cooking a veggy we take out some of the >vitamin content. We do but we still absorb more vitamins in a cooked veggy >than in a raw one. Because the stomach can turn it to mush quicker and >absorb the vitamins and then move it on. I personally believe there are times, situations, and individuals in whom raw veggies can help and are like medicine. I know that there has been times in my life when having a daily salad would cause me to feel better the next day. I've heard others say this as well. But there have been other times when raw veggies bothered me and made me feel worse. Something else to consider in regards to salads and salad dressings in the inclusion of all 5 tastes. The salad itself is usually bitter (and sweet). The salad dressing contains sour (vinegar or lemon) and spicy (hot) seasonings. Somewhere in either the salad or the salad dressing should be something salty. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2000 Report Share Posted July 6, 2000 >He does say that you are supposed to eat red >fruit--red grapefruit, apples, mangoes, red grapes, watermelon, oranges, >strawberries, tangerines. According to the author, these red fruits are >supposed to be warmer than other fruits. And all of the vegies are >supposed >to be cooked--nothing raw. I checked Henry Lu's Chinese System of Food >Cures and all of these red fruits are either cool, cold, or neutral. I was wondering about his too. When I saw that list of cool, cold, or neutral fruits, I thought this may work for someone who is too Hot, but not someone who is too Cold or even neutral. >According to Henry Lu, cherries, dates, guava, peach, and raspberries are >warm fruits, but none of these are on the allowed list from the diet book. I wondered why none of the warming fruits are included on his weight loss plan. I wondered, is he seeing mainly people who have Heat problems? Or, is this primarily some type of cleansing diet for someone who has been living on high fat junk food and little else? >I also like the Qigong exercises. They are deceptively simple. As far as I can tell, the Qigong exercises should work for about anyone. I thought they were decptively simple. I remember thinking I don't see how these could do anything? But they did. I could feel energy flowing more smoothly and in places that were " tight " before, and when it comes to sensing energy flows, I'm, well, challenged in that department.<G> I also didn't realize what a workout they can give to muscles, so I went through all 10 the first couple of times I tried them. I do not recommend this. I got more of a workout than I had anticipated from how simple the exercises look in the book. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2000 Report Share Posted July 6, 2000 >I'm starting to get the idea on the Hot and Cold thing. But what I need to >know now is how do I distinguish whether or not I'm Hot/Cold or Yin/Yang? >Is >there a " checklist " of some kind? Yes. It's a rough outline, sort of like board paint strokes on a canvas before details are filled in. Look at your tongue in the mirror. Pale tongue tissue = Cold, red = Heat, and pale red or pink = normal. Check the tongue coating. White tongue coating = normal or Cold; yellow coating = Heat. I'll post the link to Dr. Maciocia's website so you can look at pictures of tongues in his Tongue Gallery to get some idea of what is meant by the various colors. Almost immediately, this can get more complicated. When you look at your tongue, you may discover that parts of the tongue are pale but parts are red. This indicates both Cold and Heat in the body. For example, most of the tongue may be pale, but the tip may be red. This can indicate that the person's overall condition is Cold, but there is Heat trapped in the Heart and Lungs. You may see other colors besides the ones mentioned here. Purple indicates Blood Stasis (Blood not moving smoothly and correctly) and/or Qi Stagnation. If the purple color is bluish-purple, this is Stasis or Stagnation with Cold. If the purple is reddish-purple, this is Stasis and/or Stagnation with Heat. People who are too Hot will tend to dislike hot weather and heat and have trouble cooling down. If the person is in pain, and an application of cold relieves the pain, this is an indication of Heat. People who are too Hot also will tend to be thirsty a lot and prefer cold drinks. (Again, this can get complicated right away because sometimes if Dampness is present in addition to Heat (Damp Heat), the person will feel thirsty but will not want to drink.) The urine of Hot people will tend to be scanty and very yellow. The movements, speech, and pulse will tend to be rapid. (Heat causes things to speed up.) The complex will be red or reddish. In contrast, Cold people dislike cold weather and cold and have trouble warming up. Applications of heat will relieve Cold pain. These people will tend to not be thirsty a lot, and will tend to prefer hot drinks (or at least room temperature drinks) or hot soup when they do take liquids. They will tend to produce a lot of urine which is clear-colored. Their speech, movements, and pulse will tend to be slow. (Cold causes things to slow down and contract.) The complex will be pale. These are rough guidelines. Yang is associated with heat, light, rising and outward motion, heaven, the surface (Exterior), the back of the body, dryness, etc. Yin is associated with cold, darkness, downward and inward motion, earth, deeper levels (Interior), the front of the body, dampness, etc. Don't worry about understanding about Yang and Yin in the beginning. You'll pick up a lot of this as you go along. The important things to know about Yin and Yang at present is that some of the functions of Yin is to cool and calm the body, and some of the functions of Yang is to heat the body and provide get things " moving " and active. The 8 Principal Patterns approach to diagnosis looks at Hot/Cold, Exterior/Interior, and Yang/Yin. After learning about Hot and Cold, the next step is learning that they can be Excess or Deficient. If a person is too Hot because of hot weather (like in heat exhaustion or heat stroke), too many Hot foods and spices, or too much of anything Hot, including Yang), this is called Excess Heat. But remember that one of the functions of Yin is to cool the body. If a person is Yin Deficient, the person will be too Hot because there is not enough Yin energy to cool the body. This is called Deficiency Heat. The check list I gave you earlier is the general symptoms of Heat, Excess or Deficiency. There is another checklist for the general symptoms of Excess and Deficiency. For one thing, pressure will make pain due to Excess worse. Pressure will ease pain due to Deficiency. Fatigue is a symptom of any Deficiency state. (But it's also a symptom of Dampness.) In Excess, movements and speech and pulse will tend to be forceful. In Deficiency, movement, speech, and pulse will tend to be weak. In addition, there are some symptoms that are unique to Excess Heat and to Deficiency Heat. For example, in cases of Excess Heat, the entire complex will tend to be red. In cases of Deficiency Heat (Yin Deficiency), the cheeks along will be red or there may be reddish blotches on an otherwise normal complexion (what Maciocia calls a " malar flush " ). Cold can be Excess or Deficiency. Excess Cold is when the surroundings are too cold or the person eats too many Cold foods or herbs, or there is too much Yin. One of the functions of Yang is to warm the body, so if there is not enough Yang, the person will be Deficiency Cold (aka Yang Deficiency). The general guidelines about Excess and Deficiency apply here. This is a lot for you to digest, so I will stop for now. >On my most recent diet, I tried to eat just fruits and vegetables---all >cold/raw---and I was *always* hungry! How can I find out what foods would >be >best for my particular body-type? (I've also read that even exercises can >be >geared to one's body-type or they won't work either.) People in the East know a lot more about targeting specific exercises to specific problems than people in the West. The West is just starting to discover this, and the concept here usually is limited to things like exercises to strengthen a bad back. There are some yoga exercises which help the function of the thyroid gland. I only know about those because I have thyroid problems. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 New Study Casts Doubt on the Value of Artificial Sweeteners A Welsh scholar, Dr. David Benton, has published a research study calling the value of artificial sweeteners into question. The study, published in Nutrition Research Reviews, examines the science behind the growing trend to replace natural sweeteners with artificial ones in order to reduce the calorie content. Now that obesity has become epidemic in many parts of the world, products claiming to be lower in calories have become big business. Benton’s research, however, indicates that the body is able to sense and adapt to a reduced energy intake. As a result, people who use artificial sweeteners tend to eat more at one time, or to become hungry sooner. This simply reinforces the fact that the best way to lose weight is with a balanced diet, smaller portions, and plenty of exercise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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