Diet & Nutrition

One of the pillars of Chinese medicine, along with acupuncture, massage, meditation and movement, is dietary therapy. This idea is reflected in the words of many others throughout history.
 

• "Let food be your first medicine." -Hippocrates
   
• “The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” -Thomas Edison
   
• “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -La Rochefoucauld
   
• “He that takes medicine and neglects diet wastes the skills of the physician.” – Chinese proverb
   
• “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” – Edward Stanley
   
• "Diet is the essential key to all successful healing. Without a proper balanced diet, the effectiveness of herbal treatment is very limited.” – Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D.
   

At Acupuncture of Iowa, we agree with these statements. We have seen tremendous benefit in the patients who combine dietary change with acupuncture. Your acupuncturist will recommend gradual changes that people can easily do. We supply ideas, recipes, references, and even research if needed to support our patients in making these shifts. Our clinicians know that it is difficult to change diet, but we have done it ourselves and realize how crucial good diet is for our own energy and productivity.

We believe in basic naturopathic ideas about diet, which in themselves echo the traditional Asian ideas of diet. For most of our patients this means eating no processed foods, limiting gluten, dairy in moderation, and few sugars or refined carbohydrates. We support clients in eating more cooked and sprouted grains and legumes, and adding cooked and raw vegetables as well as carefully chosen fruits to the diet. Some patients will need animal protein. For very few people do we think the vegan diet is optimal, especially when they are ill. Your acupuncturist will help you find a diet that is affordable, workable, and which fits with your preferences as well as your need for specific nutrition.

We additionally recommend dietary supplements, such as excellent quality herbal products from our Chinese herb vendors and from fine supplement vendors such as Standard Process which produces their supplements from whole food, and Orthomolecular Products which has excellent peer-reviewed cutting edge medical research behind all their preparations.

Laura is an expert cook, experienced in the area of whole foods lifestyles, and has herself experienced the fantastic benefits of good nutrition, so she is very well suited to supporting our clients in this area of their lives.