Digestion and Chinese Medicine

It’s HOT outside ☀️ which means salad and smoothie season is upon us! 🥗And while we love the extra intake of veggies, we’ve been noticing a lot of digestive issues around the clinic lately.

So today, Indigo acupuncturist @MarcyJulius is talking about the link between Chinese Medicine and digestion!

In Chinese Medicine, we describe the function of digestion as the “middle burner”, the organs involved basically “cooking” the food we eat to turn it into nourishment and waste. And as its name implies, this burner is warm! So, when we overload it with cold foods, both energetically (salads) and literally (ice water), it becomes overwhelmed leading to loose stools, intestinal cramping, bloating and fatigue.

Now, don’t get us wrong, we love salads and smoothies! We’re not saying you have to give them up completely. But there are things you can do to aid digestion when eating them.

✔Add ginger to your smoothies! Ginger is an energetically warm food and will make it easier to digest.
✔When eating something cold or raw like a salad, enjoy it alongside a warm or hot cup of tea.
✔Cook your veggies whenever possible!
✔Don’t eat cold or raw food all day long. If you had a smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch, try not to have sushi for dinner.
✔Get acupuncture! There’s a reason why we always ask you about your 💩