Heard of The Five Elements? 🌿🔥🌎🛠️💧

Among the rabbit holes you can go down in health and wellness (and life in general) is the Five Elements model.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Five Elements model 🌿🔥🌎🛠️💧 offers a unique lens through which to view both personality traits and nutritional needs. Let's dive into how these ancient principles can guide us toward harmony and health:

- Wood 🌿: Those aligned with Wood are dynamic, assertive, and decisive, embodying the vigor of spring. Nutritionally, they benefit from sour flavors and green, leafy vegetables to support liver health and manage stress.

- Fire 🔥: Fire personalities are joyful, passionate, and sociable, radiating the warmth of summer. To balance their fiery nature, cooling foods and bitter flavors like salads, cucumbers, and teas are recommended to nourish the heart and calm the mind.

- Earth 🌎: Reflecting the stability of late summer, Earth types are empathetic, nurturing, and grounded. A diet focusing on sweet flavors and yellow or orange foods, such as squash and grains, can strengthen the spleen, aid digestion, and foster a sense of grounding.

- Metal 🛠️: Metal individuals are organized, disciplined, and principled, mirroring the clarity of autumn. To cleanse the lungs and maintain healthy boundaries, pungent flavors and white foods like radish, garlic, and pears are beneficial.

- Water 💧: Water personalities are reflective, introspective, and wise, embodying the depth of winter. Salty flavors and black or dark foods, such as black beans and seaweed, support kidney health, promote fluid balance, and enhance inner strength.

Understanding your dominant element can illuminate your inherent strengths and challenges, providing a path to nutritional choices that promote balance and well-being.

Dr. Liz Carter is an expert in this subject and offers a FREE Five Elements personality test you can take here »»

Curious to know your results! Would love for you to share with us at @myearseeds on Instagram.

On a Five Elements kick, here’s a modified Five Elements Healing Soup recipe:

@myearseeds

🍲 5 Elements Soup (modified version because most grocery stores in our city were closed last evening in observance of Easter). This is a p... See more

The Acupuncture Needle Market is on the Rise 🪡 

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the market for acupuncture needles is expected to more than double by 2034, reaching over $338 million. This growth reflects different trends for different markets:

• Asia Pacific market (the highest revenue share) — growing medical tourism market; rising demand for acupuncture treatments

• North America market — prevalence of disease; increased surgical procedures; efforts by the government to more broadly incorporate acupuncture services into healthcare systems

Acupuncture Takes Center Stage in Modern Cancer Treatment Strategies for Improved Patient Outcomes 🎗️

Richard T. Lee, MD, is pioneering integrative oncology at City of Hope in Orange County, CA, with the establishment of the Cherng Family Center for Integrative Oncology, blending traditional and modern therapies to enhance cancer treatment.

This approach encompasses evidence-supported practices like acupuncture and the use of natural plant derivatives, such as ginger for nausea, aiming to improve patients' quality of life during and after treatment. Highlighting the significant role of holistic treatments in managing symptoms and stress, the center focuses on research, clinical care, and education, marking a significant stride towards incorporating integrative therapies into standard cancer care practices.

Giving Your Patients a Natural Option to Botox with Cosmetic Acupuncture | The AcuPro Show with Clara

Thinking about or using Botox to keep you looking younger? You might want to consider cosmetic acupuncture.

In the latest episode of the AcuPro Show, host Clara Cohen delves into the fascinating world of cosmetic acupuncture with Dr. Rebecca Stephens, a TCM practitioner passionate about natural beauty and wellness.

Dr. Stephens shares her personal journey into Traditional Chinese Medicine and how it led her to specialize in cosmetic acupuncture. The discussion highlights the benefits of this ancient practice over mainstream alternatives like Botox, emphasizing its systemic effects, natural collagen production, and the reflection of our daily habits on our facial appearance. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of internal health and external beauty.

Acupuncture's Potential to Reduce Stroke Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Recent research published in February¹ highlights a promising link between acupuncture treatments and reduced stroke risk in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study, published in the BMJ Open, suggests that acupuncture may decrease the levels of inflammatory proteins, known as cytokines, which are associated with heart disease—the leading cause of death among RA patients. By addressing inflammation, a key factor in cardiovascular disease, and managing unstable blood pressure and lipid profiles, acupuncture presents a dual advantage for mitigating the risk of ischemic strokes, which occur due to blood clots in the brain.

Conducted by Dr. Hung-Rong Yen and his team at the School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University in Taiwan, the study analyzed over 23,000 RA patient records from a Taiwanese database, including nearly 12,300 patients who received acupuncture between 1997 and 2010. The majority of these patients underwent manual acupuncture, with a small percentage receiving electroacupuncture or a combination of both. Over the course of the study, those who received acupuncture showed a 43% lower stroke risk compared to those who did not, even when accounting for variables such as age, sex, medication types, and other health conditions.

However, the researchers caution that the study, while indicating a strong association between acupuncture and lower stroke risk, cannot definitively prove causality. Factors such as lifestyle, physical activity, and specific health measurements were not available, potentially influencing the study's outcomes. Despite these limitations, the findings offer a hopeful perspective on acupuncture's role in cardiovascular health for RA patients, suggesting further exploration into its benefits is warranted.

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Sources:

¹ Huang, C., Huang, M., Liao, H., et al. (2024). Effect of acupuncture on ischaemic stroke in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A nationwide propensity score-matched study. BMJ Open, 14, e075218. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075218