Handbook of Treating Obesity with Chinese Medicine

By P. DAENI

CONTENTS 1 29 31 42 61 63 92 122 146 168 189 208 232 245 CHAPTER 1 WEIGHT AND HEALTH THE TCM PERSPECTIVE PART I TCM SELF HEALING TOOLS FOR LIFE CHAPTER 3 WU MING MERIDIAN THERAPY HEALING THE DRAGON S CHAPTER 2 FOODS THAT HEAL THE DRAGON S WAY EATING FOR HEALING PLAN WAY WITH ANCIENT QIGONG MOVEMENTS THAT REBALANCE YOUR BODY PART II TAKING OFF TWELVE POUNDS AND EIGHT INCHES IN SIX WEEKS THE DRAGON S WAY CHAPTER 4 GETTING STARTED HOW HEALTHY ARE YOU CHAPTER 5 THE PREPARATION WEEK AND WEEK 1 GETTING YOUR MIND AND BODY READY FOR THE SPECIAL JOURNEY AHEAD CHAPTER 6 WEEK 2 BREAKING DOWN THE INTERNAL GARBAGE AND BUILDING UP YOUR QI CHAPTER 7 WEEK 3 PUSHING THROUGH THE FIRST TRANSITION CHAPTER 8 WEEK 4 MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR HEALING JOURNEY CHAPTER 9 WEEK 5 GOING WITH THE FLOW CHAPTER 10 WEEK 6 YOU TOO CAN BE A HOME RUN KING CHAPTER 11 LIVING YOUR LIFE THE DRAGON S WAY PART III THE DRAGON S FEAST AND MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 247 291 CHAPTER 12 THE DRAGON S FEAST HEALING RECIPES THAT YOU CHAPTER 13 THE DRAGON S WAY MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED CAN START USING TODAY QUESTIONS CHAPTER 1 WEIGHT AND HEALTH THE TCM PERSPECTIVE AS I MENTIONED EARLIER TCM HAS BEEN IN UNINTERRUPTED USE FOR ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND YEARS ITS THEORIES ARE BASED ON A DEEP UNDER STANDING OF THE VERY ESSENCE OF NATURE AND THE UNIVERSE BY AP PLYING ITS PRINCIPLES TO THE HUMAN BODY THIS HEALING ART EVOLVED AND WAS ENRICHED OVER TIME IF YOU CONSIDER THE BODY AS A UNIFIED AND INTEGRATED ENERGY SYSTEM RATHER THAN A COLLECTION OF INDEPENDENT PARTS YOU CAN BEGIN TO APPRECIATE THE PERSPECTIVE OF TCM WHICH SEES EVERYTHING WOVEN INTO ONE MAGNIFICENT WEB OF LIFE WHEN A PERSON COMES TO A TCM DOCTOR WITH A COMPLAINT THE PRACTITIONER LOOKS FOR THE ROOT OR ENERGY CAUSE OF THE IMBALANCE HE OR SHE CAREFULLY CHECKS AND EVALUATES THE ENERGY SYSTEMS AND TREATS THESE ROOT CAUSES WITH TIME TESTED HEALING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS SPECIAL FOODS HERBS ACU PUNCTURE TUINA OR ACUPRESSURE AND MOXIBUSTION THE APPLICATION OF HEAT TO ACUPOINTS AND EVEN A FORM OF CHINESE PSYCHOLOGY ALL OF THESE ARE AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT RESTORING REBALANCING AND INCREASING THE QI OF AN AFFECTED ORGAN OR ORGANS AND HELPING QI FLOW SMOOTHLY THROUGH THE MERIDIANS INVISIBLE CHANNELS THAT FORM THE BODY S ENERGY NETWORK WHEN TCM DISCUSSES THE FUNCTION OF AN ORGAN IT IS ALWAYS 1 IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS QI AND IN RELATION TO THE OTHER ORGAN S WITH WHICH IT MUST SHARE A COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU HAVE CHRONIC CONSTIPATION TCM WOULD NOT RELY ON TREATING THE SYMPTOMS WITH LAXATIVES OR FIBER RATHER TCM WOULD EXPLORE THE ROOT CAUSE AND FOR EVERY PERSON THE ROOT CAUSE CAN BE DIFFER ENT FOR INSTANCE TEENAGE CONSTIPATION AND ADULT CONSTIPATION MAY BE TREATED IN TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAYS A NUMBER OF WO MEN EXPERIENCE CONSTIPATION BEFORE THEIR PERIODS THIS TOO WOULD REQUIRE DIFFERENT TREATMENT FOR TCM YOUR CONSTIPATION MAY BE RELATED NOT ONLY TO YOUR LARGE INTESTINE BUT PERHAPS YOUR GALLBLAD DER YOUR LIVER YOUR STOMACH OR EVEN YOUR LUNG SO YOU SEE WHAT MAY APPEAR TO BE A LARGE INTESTINE PROBLEM LIKE CONSTIPA TION MAY ACTUALLY ARISE FROM A QI DEFICIENCY IN THE FUNCTION OF OTHER ORGANS WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IT MEANS THAT ONE OR MORE OF THE INVOLVED ORGANS QI IS TOO LOW OR TOO WEAK TO COOPERATE WITH THE LARGE INTESTINE AND HELP IT PERFORM ITS JOB OF RIDDING THE BODY OF WASTE MATERIAL YOU CAN SEE THEN WHY OVER THE COUNTER REMED IES CAN ONLY TREAT THE SYMPTOMS NOT THE SOURCE IF THEY COULD TREAT THE SOURCE THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM A RECURRING PROBLEM SUCH AS CONSTIPATION WOULDN T HAVE TO TAKE THESE REMEDIES REPEATEDLY FOR MANY YEARS AT THE HEART OF TCM IS THE TENET THAT ITS PRACTITIONERS MUST AL WAYS LOOK FOR AND THEN TREAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE IMBALANCES THAT CREATE SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE USING MODERN DAY TERMINOLOGY TCM IS HOLISTIC IN ITS APPROACH IT VIEWS EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE BODY MIND EMOTIONS AND SPIRIT AS PART OF THE SAME CIRCLE RATHER THAN SEPARATE LOOSELY CONNECTED PIECES TO BE DEALT WITH INDIVIDU ALLY AS IF THEY WERE ONLY PERIPHERALLY RELATED TO EACH OTHER THUS ACCORDING TO TCM EXCESS WEIGHT IS CONSIDERED A SYMPTOM ALBEIT AN IMPORTANT SYMPTOM OF A GREATER HEALTH ISSUE AND NOT THE TRUE ISSUE ITSELF AND YOU CAN READILY SEE FROM THIS PHILOSOPHY THAT ONCE THE ROOT CAUSE HAS BEEN CORRECTED THEN THE ISSUE HAS TRULY BEEN RESOLVED NOT SIMPLY SUPPRESSED OR COVERED UP WAITING FOR A CHANCE TO REEMERGE IN THE CASE OF WEIGHT PROBLEMS I HAVE SEEN THIS EVER PRESENT BURDEN OF EXCESS ADIPOSITAS BEHANDELN MIT CHINESISCHER MEDIZIN 2 WEIGHT FINALLY LIFTED FROM MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED THEIR BEST TO ADDRESS THEIR WEIGHT PROBLEMS AND FAILED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT TREATING THE ROOT CAUSE THE FIRST TCM PRINCIPLE MOST LIKELY IF YOU VE BEEN ON MANY DIETS YOU VE BEEN CONDI TIONED TO BELIEVE THAT THE WEIGHT IS THE PROBLEM THAT THE CALORIES ARE THE PROBLEM OR THAT NOT ENOUGH EXERCISE IS THE PROBLEM TCM BELIEVES THAT THE ANSWER LIES INSIDE YOUR BODY ITSELF NOT OUTSIDE TCM SAYS THAT EXCESS WEIGHT IS AN EXTERNAL SYMPTOM OF A DEEPER IMBALANCE BETWEEN DIFFERENT ORGANS SUCH AS THE SPLEEN AND THE LIVER WHICH IN TURN CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH AN INDIVIDUAL S QI OR ENERGY IF YOU CAME TO ME AS A PATIENT WITH A WEIGHT PROBLEM I WOULD RECOGNIZE THIS AS A RED FLAG SIGNALING DEEPER HEALTH ISSUES BY TREATING THE UNDERLYING CONDITION AS DIAGNOSED BY TCM PRINCIPLES WE WOULD BEGIN TO SEE YOUR WEIGHT DROP OFF NATURALLY I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH TCM BELIEVES WEIGHT PROBLEMS ARE SYMPTOMS OF OTHER IMBALANCES THAT MUST BE HEALED AND NOT THE PROBLEM ITSELF THIS MAKES SENSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE STATISTICS OF WEIGHT PROGRAMS AND PRODUCTS HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY IT IS THAT 95 PERCENT OF ALL SUCCESSFUL DIETERS REGAIN SOME OR ALL OF THEIR LOST WEIGHT PEOPLE TRY SO HARD TO TAKE OFF WEIGHT AND INCHES YET MOST OF THEM ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE PERMANENT SUCCESS IT S BECAUSE THE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS ARE STILL THERE ONLY BY HEALING THE ROOT CAUSE CAN LONG LASTING RESULTS BE OBTAINED THIS IS A VERY POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT CONCEPT AND THE PREMISE OF THE DRAGON S WAY HERE S AN INDIVIDUAL WHO LEARNED THE VALUE OF TREATING THE ROOT CAUSE WHEN I RETIRED FROM TEACHING LAST YEAR I EXPECTED THAT MY ANXIETY AND MUSCLE TENSION WOULD END INSTEAD I FOUND THAT I HAD A STUBBORN CASE OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE I DECIDED THAT I DIDN T WANT TO TAKE MED ICATION FOR MY NERVOUSNESS AND MY DOCTOR THOUGHT IF I LOST WEIGHT MY BLOOD PRESSURE MIGHT GO DOWN AS WELL THIS WAS IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE I ALSO DIDN T WANT TO TAKE BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION I DIDN T KNOW ANY ADIPOSITAS BEHANDELN MIT CHINESISCHER MEDIZIN 3