Primal vs. Eastern Medicine page

[gnataxela]

Paging all Apples!
I need help. My body is a mess.

The acupuncturist told me that I have a weak spleen and internal dampness. My aches and pains are all along my spleen and liver meridians. Looking here, which I am told is a good reference, a person with my symptoms should be eating primarily grains and very little meat. This is the complete opposite of primal.

My question is if any of you out there have experience in acupuncture and/or holistic healing. I believe that it really works, just like I believe in the primal lifestyle, but how do I marry the two concepts? Any suggestions?

[Pitter]

I have had a lot of success with acupuncture for a variety of complaints. I tend towards a lot of spleen chi issues too, though I can't say that my practitioner has ever made very many dietary recommendations. Even though acu is great, I still felt like I was on my own for this. When I told her how amazing I felt after cutting out veg oils she only said something about everyone being different. So along those, lines everyone is different and you will need to figure out what works for you.

Now that said, I don't think anyone needs lots of grains. Even the vegans and vegetarians who are doing the best are the ones that are not relying on grains. Also, in TCM when they say "grains" I'm pretty sure they mean rice, not Wonder bread or even whole wheat pasta.

If I were you and I were going to try not relying on a lot of meat, I would bulk up on veggies and maybe I'd consider adding some brown rice congi.

[MichaelH]

I've been listening to the Paleo Solution podcasts, and they sometimes mention Eastern medicine. I actually think they might have something about how a Chinese medicine practitioner would call a certain condition a symptom of a weak spleen, but I can't really recall.

They sometimes refer to acupuncture and stuff, so it's apparent that they respect the practices. They are of the belief that very few people are well-adapted to eating grains, so I doubt they would agree with the recommendation of eating mostly grains for your condition.

Wish I could be of more help. Best of luck!

[Kaylee99]

No suggestions but..what on earth does internal dampness mean?

[AndreaReina]

Check out Don Matesz he's Primal/Paleo and TCM. Pitter makes a good point vis a vis rice/grains, it's also important to consider the fact that these days even traditional systems like TCM and Ayurveda are becoming "infected" by Western CW. A lot of Ayurveda sites say that a vegetarian diet is optimal for health, when that is not mentioned in the traditional Indian scriptures -- vegetarian diets are sometimes recommended for spiritual reasons, but animal foods are in fact prescribed for a variety of physical ailments.

[Pitter]

No suggestions but..what on earth does internal dampness mean?

I'm no good at explaining, but TCM is totally different in the way it identifies conditions. It's all about 'heat', 'damp', energy blocks and issues are connected to different organs. I actually don't even care what the explanation is because it just works (Works for me that is, YMMV)

[Kaylee99]

LOL, I must be taking it too literal.

[naiadknight]

LOL, I must be taking it too literal.

You weren't the only one. I was going "but everything internal is damp/ wet. It's that way for a reason..."

[hazyjane]

I've had a lot of acupuncture and have studied some TCM (for fun and also as part of medical qigong training). Here's what has worked for me regarding damp and weak spleen: pu-erh tea with orange peel and keeping dairy intake low. Big difference! I think Oolong or Yunnan tea would work, also.
To buld spleen qi, you can use yams and root veggies instead of grains- these work on the spleen/stomach. You might also consider astragalus, which is the main spleen qi tonic (or the classic astragauls/ginseng combo.) Think roots/earth element, which is the spleen's element.

BTW, my pulse readings have been much better since going Primal and my TCM doc said I looked different (in her words, "Pretty, like a Chinese girl" whtever that means, lol! She's from Shanghai).