Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds are not generally considered to be serious from the perspective of Western medicine, but in lifestyle medicine I think of the little symptoms as warning lights on the dash, and frequent nosebleeds are an indicator that your lifestyle is impacting on your blood and/or your liver chi. You are on the way to, or […]

Bleeding Gums

Plenty of people put heaps of time and effort into cleaning their teeth and dental hygiene to deal with bleeding gums, but it doesn’t always resolve the problem. In these cases lifestyle factors that cause ‘heat’ (which rises) are involved. Here are some behaviours that create heat: stress and strong emotions; excessive consumption of hot […]

Bloating

Bloating is so common now, I rarely see a client who doesn’t suffer from it. I’ve noticed that people always blame bread, pasta or carbs, but this is only part of the cause. If you try and treat bloating by cutting out everything that makes you bloat, you can end up with a diet so […]

Belching

If you find yourself belching all the time, it’s not bad manners it’s a sign that your liver needs some TLC. Liver directs chi flow around your body to make sure all your organs and processes work properly. Belching is a sign that that flow is being interrupted somewhere. The odd burp or two is […]

Blood in Stool

Blood in stool can be an indicator of something serious or something more simple such as poor diet. Either way the symptom always begins with ‘dampness’ and this is a condition created by behaviours and lifestyle. Lifestyle changes that can help include changing your diet to include more healthy foods and less of the greasy […]

Constipation

In the old days of TCM, stool analysis was a major diagnostic tool. The emperor’s stool physician would examine the stool and then give recommendations to the herbalist and the cook. We don’t examine stool any more but we still always ask clients about their stool because shape, consistency and frequency are indicators of the […]

Dementia

A healthy mind is the outcome of a healthy heart in TCM, and a healthy heart is the outcome of healthy kidneys, and this is down to lifestyle. A weakening of heart and / or kidneys will weaken the mind and manifest as dementia symptoms. Dementia is on the rise because so many contemporary lifestyle factors […]

Depression

I’ve treated countless numbers of people with depression and it is never ‘just in your mind’. If anyone says that to you, don’t listen. Depression involves your body, your lifestyle and even your purpose and this is how you treat it. Depression can be a physical response to excessive pressure and stress (doing too many […]

Apathy

In a state of apathy you lose your reason for being here, you lose your ‘fire for life’. I saw this in my father (who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s) but people misunderstood his apathy back then, they didn’t realise that it is an organ malfunction not a behavior. It is not deliberate and not something […]

Cramps

Muscle cramps now affect people across a wide range of ages and levels of fitness, rather than being primarily a symptom of the elderly, as in the past. Cramps are always a chronic condition. It is a yin and blood deficiency pattern. Cramps are more of an issue at nighttime because of this. You can […]