TCM and Digestion

This was written last year and posted to Substack. I never really went anywhere with Substack...

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When I was asked to write a blog post on how acupuncture can address gut issues I came down with a massive case of writer's block, I was really dragging my feet on this homework assignment. Where to start? How far back to fundamentals do I go? Even if I were to mention that acupuncture has been effective for digestive disorders like IBS and Crohn's I felt like I wouldn't be able to get my full message across. The thing is that acupuncture has been proven excellent at addressing those conditions. With acupuncture, we have to keep in mind that we are putting our own energy to use. Unlike using herbs to accomplish a mission, nothing is being added or taken away to the body with acupuncture, so the starting point will always be your current general health, from there it's up to the needles, eating habits and diet.

A well-functioning body is like an efficient well-running farm. Materials (soil, fertilizer, hand tools, buckets, tillers, bulldozers, hoses, sprinklers, tarps, lights, etc.) are brought in to prepare and arrange the soil to receive the seeds. The soil's moisture and pH must be kept in a certain range in order for the crops to grow optimally. Then comes time for harvest and to bring the harvest to market or table. All of these activities require energy and optimal conditions. If one part fails, say the soil is too dry, the pollinators do not come, or there's not enough boxes to pack the crops, the total production of the farm will fall.

Similarly, if not enough nutrients are brought in, or if one system stalls in our body, then digestion, or the production of energy and blood, is reduced.

Addressing the nutrients is the simple piece, it's our diet. If good nutrients are being taken in, there ought to be smooth digestion and good production of energy and blood. After a quick scroll through Reels, anyone can understand what a 'healthy diet' is. But is it really? Perhaps 'healthy diet' isn't necessarily what TCM is going after. To help the digestive system, the focus should be on 'healthy eating', or TCM food hygiene, instead. By this I mean how we prepare and present the food to the digestive system. All foods should be cooked (aka no salads, sushi, smoothies, ice cream, etc.) and no colder than room temperature (bye-bye iced coffees, juices and cold beers). Rich, oily, greasy hard to digest foods (deep-fried foods, multivitamins, etc.) tend to gunk up our system and energy needs to be spent to clean this out. This category also includes dairy, burnt foods and foods/oils that have gone rancid. Go for high-smoke point oils for cooking and save the olive oil for dressings. Sweeteners haven't really been a massive problem until the advent of artificial and processed sweeteners - always substitute out artificial sweeteners and processed sugar for cane sugar, honey, maple syrup, malt syrup, etc. These natural sweeteners can satiate a sweet tooth more effectively than their processed and artificial counterparts. In the same vein, anything we put into our oral cavity should be all natural and unadulterated - like our salts and non-GMO produce, etc. Also, over-stuffing the stomach is like biting off more than you can chew. It will take a lot more time for your stomach to process all the food, and the stomach may skip a few steps and not process properly. And another thing (...the food hygiene list is looooong...), take time to chew the food and drinks (yes chew your drinks) enough to incorporate a lot of saliva into the food, the mechanical breakdown of food and the chemical changes the saliva makes to the food is the first step to healthy digestion by helping the stomach do it's job better and sending messages further along the digestive tract to prepare.

After incorporating the above food hygiene items, the next thing to look at is the nature of the foods we are taking into the body. The idea behind this is simple too: if you have a lot of inflammation or dryness, refrain from hot- or warm-natured foods, like hot sauces, chili peppers, red meat, night shades, and other spicy and pungent foods. If you have a lot of cold and stiffness, follow the guidance in the previous paragraph. If you have a lot of water retention and body fat, follow the guidelines in the previous paragraph and also reduce damp-forming foods, like potatoes, breads, nuts and sweet foods. If you have any signs of tremors, refrain from shellfish, soured foods (alcohol, yogurts, lemons, etc.) and take in more blood-building foods like beef and beets. What and how we eat can be our medicine or our poison of choice.

So, let's say we're taking in the right foods and preparing them the right way for our stomachs, but we still experience digestive issues. We can now look to the digestive system itself and to the other systems that may be interfering with digestion. Perhaps the stomach acid is too low or valves are not closing properly, perhaps the heart is not pumping enough blood to the stomach (because the digestive system itself is too weak to produce good blood), perhaps the liver is gunked up with residues as it filters our blood for us and is unable to produce the bile, perhaps the gallbladder is too inflamed and unable to pass the bile into the small intestine, perhaps the intestines themselves are inflamed from stress or the foods we take in and produce excessive mucous in hopes of protecting themselves just to create a blockage, or the guts simply don't know what to do with the undigested food and just move it along as watery diarrhea, perhaps there's a low-grade infection or inflammation that sends a message to divert all water in the body to try to cool down a certain area and in doing so, the water gets taken from the colon, drying out the stool and causing constipation. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…there can be many reasons why you may be experiencing digestive issues, and maybe you are facing more than one at the same time!

So how does acupuncture fit in all of this, especially since we are working with our own body's energy to make things right? If there are any interfering systems, those can be regulated to move in the right direction to lay off the pressure on your digestive system. At the same time, you can provide the nutrients to give your body the materials it needs to make more energy and blood to fortify yourself in those times that you do take in foods that are not optimal for your body. Celebrations, like birthdays, weddings, graduations are times where we may put the guidelines aside and enjoy ourselves knowing that our bodies will be strong enough to overcome these shocks to the system (I said shocks, not daily events).

Addressing damage done to a weak digestive system will take more than 1 visit for sure, plan for 8-12 visits with the early appointments being more frequent and the later appointments being sprinkled out over a few months. Everyone's body responds differently, but it's fair to say that the more of the eating guidelines mentioned in this post are incorporated, the faster the desired results will be achieved or fewer visits will be needed. Improvement may be slow, but you should be going in the right direction, if after 3 visits there is no improvement, your case may need to be reassessed in case there's something deeper going on.

If you're curious about supplements like probiotics and digestive enzymes, I recommend going to a naturopathic doctor for supplement evaluation since these are not in the scope of TCM. The class of medications that acupuncturists really need to be cautious about are blood thinners, if you're on blood thinners, then acupuncture may not be for you. In this case I suggest following the TCM food hygiene guidelines in this post and consider herbs until your condition improves enough for acupuncture. For other medications, you can decide with your prescribing doctor if, how, and, when you can reduce them in conjunction with acupuncture. If you are seeing a specialist for anything major going on, like surgery or chemo, then get the green light from them first because they may have a specific plan or be keeping tabs on things that we don't want to interfere with.

If you're curious to experience what acupuncture can do your for IBS, have something to eat an hour or two before your acupuncture appointment, and wear loose fitting clothes to accommodate for access to the abdomen, and, shifting sleeves and pant legs to the elbows and knees, and prepare to nap your digestive upsets away.

And if you want to take this to the next level, look on your bazi chart for your direct resource and begin your new health regimen during your direct resource month (stem or branch).