TCM and vitamins. etc.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3>

wrote:

>

> Bob Flaws and Honora Wolfe have written a very useful work giving

the

> TCM analysis of Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and western herbs.

It

> can be found at their web-site Blue Poppy. The Chinese and Japanese

> have done extensive research on these subjects for many years. Sorry

I

> do not have the name of the work with me right now.

 

If you can find the link to the info on the Blue Poppy website, please

post it here as this is important info to consider. I searched for it

last night, but couldn't find it.

 

I have a oopy of The Tao of Healthy Eating by Bob Flaws which contains

the info, but it would be good if list members could also find it on

the Internet.

 

For example: " Vitamin A: Supplements the blood and fills the essence,

brightens the eyes and clears heat from the blood; treats vacuity heat

patterns. " (Flaws, p. 60.) (Note for those new to TCM: " Vacuity " is

what other authors translate as " deficiency " or " emptiness " . " Vacuity

heat " is Yin vacuity, aka Yin Deficiency. One of the roles of Yin is

to properly cool the body (and calm and moisten it). The body is too

hot because there is not enough Yin to cool it properly. Excess heat,

aka replete heat, aka full heat is caused by there being too much of a

warming nature. Either from the environment (like heat exhaustion or

heat stroke) or the person eating too many foods or herbs which have a

warming effect on the body.)

 

A number of B vitimins act on the Liver. The word " Liver " is

capitalized because we're talking about the TCM concept of the Liver,

and it's not equivalent to the anatomical liver. (Flaws doesn't

always make this distinction, but I'm making it here to help the

readers who are new to TCM.) Though many of the B vitamins also have a

positive effect on the liver. What a number of the B vitamins do is

they " course " the Liver. In other words, they help to resolve Liver Qi

Stagnation problems.

 

I want to go into some detail about one of the B vitmains: " Vitamin

B12: Supplements the qi, and nourishes the blood, stops bleeding. "

(Flaws, p. 61.) The reason I want to go into this one is because of

the overlap between TCM and anatomy and physiology from a Western

viewpoint.

 

Many Westerners are familiar with B12 deficiency as being the cause of

pernicious anemia. This is a type of anemia characterized by

abnormally large red blood cells with thin membranes and short life

spans. Here we see an overlap between what B12 does for Blood, and

what B12 does for blood. (I know the people who are new to TCM are

feeling confused by these distinctions, but they are important. TCM

defines things in terms of functions. Two of the functions of Blood

are to nourish and to moisten tissues.)

 

B12 promotes the formation of healthy red blood cells as well as

proper Blood. The TCM concept of Blood Deficiency is not restricted to

anemia. Any time the Blood fails to nourish and moisten tissues for

whatever reason (and there are the symptoms and signs of Blood

Defiiency), that's Blood Deficiency.

 

A nondiscocyte is a misshapened and inflexible red blood cell that has

trouble making it through the smallest capillaries because it is

misshapened and inflexible. Unusually high numbers of nondiscocytes

are seen in a number of medical conditions. For example, high

percentages are seen in diabetics. The highest percentages are seen in

people with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, aka

ME, aka CFS). The treatment is B12 injections. (You want to make sure

the injectable B12 doesn't use mercury, and be aware that sometimes

B12 injections can trigger too many red blood cells. You also want to

keep an eye on folic acid (another B vitamin) levels as an excess of

one can result in a shortage of the other.) B12 promotes the formation

of properly shaped, properly sized, flexible red blood cells that have

no trouble making it through the smallest capillaries.

 

This overlap between B12 helping to produce both proper Blood and

proper blood (red blood cells) also demonstrates another TCM

realization: That Blood Deficiency is one of the possible causes of

Blood Stasis. Blood Stasis is a term applied to Blood that doesn't

move properly. Misshapened and inflexible red blood cells having

trouble making it through the smaller capillaries falls within the

concept of Blood Stasis. (This is not the only mechanism by which

Blood Deficiency can trigger Blood stasis. It is one of the ways.)

 

A note for the beginning TCM students on the list: At first the

distinctions between TCM terms and anatomical terms are going to be

confusing. Many of you will have trouble at first getting pass the

anatomical definitions. I know I did in regards to the concept of

Blood Deficiency. I kept automatically thinking of and restricting it

to anemia. It took a while to start automatically thinking in terms

of " nourishing and moistening tissues. "

 

As you get more familiar with and more comfortable with the TCM

definitions, the confusion will lessen. Eventually you'll be able to

move very easily between TCM definitions and anatomical definitions.

You'll note the overlaps as well as the important differences.

 

Because you're entering TCM with a background in Western anatomical

definitions, in time you'll be able to spot things in TCM that

probably wouldn't occur to someone whose primary and only training is

in TCM. Just like the Chinese who learned Western allopathic medicine

after first learning TCM are able to spot things in allopathic

medicine that probably wouldn't occur to someone with just a backgroun

in allopathic medicine.

 

It is important to not equate TCM concepts with anatomy and physiology

but to note areas of overlap as well as differences. For example

hypothyroism is NOT equivalent to Kidney Yang Deficiency though there

is an amazing overlap of symptoms between the two, and the people who

are hypothyroid frequently are also Kidney Yang Deficient. Sometimes

both will need to be treated. The Kidney Yang Deficiency by a TCM

healer, and the hypothyroidism by a MD or DO. Sometimes Western-

defined medical problems will clear up with just the TCM imbalances

being treated (though only a MD or DO can confirm this). (TCM

healers treat TCM imbalances, NOT Western-defined medical conditions.)

But sometimes both treatments will be needed.

[Guest guest]

I want to talk some more about why it can be important to be aware

of the TCM properties of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and

essential fatty acids.

 

As long-term list members know, at one time I was very sick. We're

talking crawling to the bathroom, not able physically to sit up and

watch TV as well as not able to comprehend what I was watching sick.

 

I didn't know about TCM at the time. The only help I had available

was large dosages of vitamins, minerals, and EFAs (Essential Fatty

Acids) and digestive enzymes. These helped a lot, but I was still

very sick. They had done all that they could do.

 

Then I saw a TCM healer, and got far more improvement with TCM than

I had hoped for. Things that I though were beyond me forever. All I

was looking for was some slight improvement.

 

One thing that needs to be considered is if part of the very good

response I had to the TCM was the co-treatment with various

vitamins, minerals, and other supplements? At the time I already had

been sick over 20 years, and the longer one has been sick and the

more severe problems have been, the longer treatment will take. I

had a very dramatic improvement by 3 weeks of TCM treatment,

something I hadn't even dared hope for. I was able to start a very

modest, REGULAR exercise program. For the first time in years I not

only had the energy, I had it regularly enough that I could count on

having it. What I had been hoping for was just feeling better when I

sat up and being able to sit up more. And some lessening of the

fatigue. Two of the most distinctive things about CFIDS is that

exercise (or any kind of overdoing) makes it worse, and PWCs (People

With CFIDS) have to rest up before and after doing something.

Resting up afterwards can take 2 to 3 days to a oouple of weeks

depending on how sick the PWC is and how severely the person has

overdone. Obviously this nixes a daily exercise program. Not to

mention robbing the PWC of energy needed to sit up, eat, brush

teeth, take a bath, etc. Unlike people who do not have CFIDS,

exercise does not energize a PWC or increase endurance. You'll also

see this reaction to exercise in a person who is Qi Deficient. You

build the person up with Qi tonic treatment BEFORE the person starts

an exercise program. Otherwise the exercise is going to cause a Qi

Deficient person to become more Qi Deficient. Overdoing physically

weakens the Spleen, and since the Spleen plays such a key role in

the person having Qi, a furthered weakened Spleen is going to mean

even less Qi than before.

 

BTW, after improving enough to exercise regularly, I eventually

discovered that Qi Gong exercises are the only exercises that

actually make me feel more energized instead of less.

 

I may not have make the very fast and dramatic improvement without

having also been on the vitamins and minerals. But it's also

important that the vitamins and minerals by themselves could only do

so much.

 

It also needs to be pointed out that even though Flaws has spent

years studying the TCM properties of vitamins, minerals, and amino

acids, this is still preliminary information. This doesn't mean that

it can't be very helpful. Just that as the TCM properties of these

substances are better understood, they can be used even more

effectively than they are now.

 

Something else for healers to keep in mind is that when a person has

been sick for a long time and the problems have been severe, the

digestion frequently will be below par. Which means that there are

absorption problems. A person with a healthy digestive system

usually can get all the vitamins and minerals he or she needs from a

good diet. This isn't true of a person with impaired digestion who

has been sick for some time. It may take some higher than the

minimum or even recommended dosages of some vitamins and minerals

for enough to get through and be utilized. Please keep in mind the

various risks. For example, too much of any mineral can be lethal.

There is far less risk of overdose with the water-soluable vitamins

like C and the Bs than with the fat-soluable vitamins like A and E.

Some substances compete with other substances for space in the

body. For example, calcium and magnesium. An excess of one can

trigger a deficiency of the other. B12 and folic acid.

 

It's been discussed on here about how a craving for protein can mean

that the person isn't digesting protein properly. It's not being

broken down into amino acids. The craving for protein is actually a

craving for amino acids. BTW, one of the things that helps many PWC

is amino acid supplements. It's a way around the poor digestion of

food, including protein that is so common in PWCs. Digestive

enzymes also help many PWCs.

 

Something else to keep in mind is if the person is having trouble

digesting and absorbing what is needed from food, the person is

likely to have the same problem with medicinal herbs. This may be a

reason why I responded so dramatically and quickly to TCM treatment.

My digestion already had been improved by all the vitamins and

mineral and amino acid supplements, not to mention the digestive

enzymes. As a result, I was able to get and use far more of the

healing properties of the herbs than someone with a weaker digestion

would be able to absorb and use.

 

In treating people who have been sick a long time and who

have " knotty " (complex) problems, improving digestion may need to be

one of the priorities for a while so that the person can absorb and

use more of what is needed from the herbs. Acupuncture can be a way

of doing this. It's healing isn't dependent on aborption and

utilization of something consumed.

 

Something else that occurs to me is that knowing the TCM properties

of vitamins, etc. may be a way around some of the problems

associated with some of the classes of herbs. For example, some of

the Blood tonic and Yin tonic herbs can be very " cloying " . This

means they're hard to digest. They're " thick " and " heavy " , and they

can trigger bloating. Some of the vitamins, minerals, and aacids

have Blood tonic and Yin tonic properties. They may be better

tolerated than the herbs alone. This does not mean that one can

forget about the Blood and Yin tonic herbs. They have properties in

addition to the tonic herbs. This is about helping the person to get

to the point where enough of the herbs can be digested, absorbed,

and used.

 

Something else one will see in the case of people with long-term

severe and knotty problems is that eventually they get to the point

where just about everything they consume by mouth bothers them.

There will be unpleasant sensations and even side effects, including

allergy-like symptoms from just about everything they consume by

mouth. This means not only the food they eat but healing herbs as

well. I had this problem with food, and the vitamins, minerals,

amino acids, EFAs, and digestive enzymes helped the problem. By the

time I saw the TCM herbalist, this problem had been greatly reduced,

and I didn't have any problems with the herbal formulas. I have

talked with PWCs and others who were very sick who weren't on

vitamins, etc. who have had these problems with herbs in the

beginning.

 

I want to emphasize again that anyone thinking of trying these

things research them very carefully (or have someone research them

for you if you're too sick to do so yourself), make sure you know

the contraindications and risks, and talk it over with your

healthcare providers.

 

Sometimes people do have allergies to certain foods and herbs, not

just allergy-like reactions. Allergies will need to be treated AS

allergies. An example of an allergy-like reaction is the way dairy

and wheat are Damp-engendering. The increased congestion and muccus

can be mistaken for an allergy. Sometimes people are allergic to

milk and wheat, but sometimes what they are experiencing are allergy-

like symptoms because of the Damp-engendering properties of these

two foods.

[Guest guest]

> Because you're entering TCM with a background in Western anatomical

> definitions, in time you'll be able to spot things in TCM that

> probably wouldn't occur to someone whose primary and only training is

> in TCM. Just like the Chinese who learned Western allopathic medicine

> after first learning TCM are able to spot things in allopathic

> medicine that probably wouldn't occur to someone with just a backgroun

> in allopathic medicine.

 

While this wasn't true in the past, I think that it's now true that in the

US

as well as in China, programs all contain a healthy dose of both

TCM and Western medicine classes. The US programs have to meet

accrediation requirements, and the graduates need to be able to pass

the boards, (which include both TCM and Western Medicine).

I'm told that the programs in China now also require both.

 

Jeri