What I have found after 22 years of practice is that diet is extremely important. This has led me to study Sasang dietary therapy as an aid not only to helping acupuncture be more effective, but as a stand-alone treatment for enhanced health.
Sasang Consititutional Medicine originated in Korea about 400 years ago. At that time the physician, Lee Je-ma, observed that people had different reactions to the same herbal medicines. From this starting point he developed Sasang constitutional medicine. In Sasang dietary therapy the patient’s constitution is the basis of determining that person’s dietary guidelines. Often, we hear of foods that are “good” for us, but according to this system some “good” foods are beneficial for certain constitutions, but not others. Sasang looks at four constitutions that basically break down into a person being either “hot” or “cold” by nature and recommends foods that will reduce the excess and improve the deficiency in their constitution. After years of real-world experimentation by people of the four constitutions eating different foods and observing their effect on body and mind, foods have been divided in to warming, cooling, and neutral.
I have come to find both the system of determining a person’s constitution and the categorization of foods to be quite accurate and very helpful when patients actually eat accordingly. Often people will crave foods that are almost directly the opposite of what would benefit them the most. This can be a real hurdle when trying to implement the dietary changes, but once they start to feel a positive response, eating according to the constitutional guidelines does become easier.
I am certified by Tracy Stewart, who after using this system for over 20 years in addition to her own extensive apprenticeship, developed a course for acupuncturists.
Report only:
$250.00 This includes a 45 minute in-person meeting with email support for one month.
Report for established acupuncture patients:
$150.00 This includes a written report and email support along with discussion at acupuncture visits.