Chinese Medicine helps balance hormones with simple nutrition changes. Let’s look at the cultural differences first.
Many Western women treat their menstrual cycle as biological pre-determined:
* Painful or not
* Long or short
* Regular or irregular
* Clear skin or break outs
Many women stay on the contraceptive pill for 15+ years “for reasons such as clearer skin and fewer headaches”, when they haven’t had a proper period since they were teenagers. Remember the contraceptive pill only mimics a period, any bleeding that occurs is due to withdrawal of the pill. Thus, menstrual cycles and having a baby are treated like it’s all an act of fate, that their cycles will automatically regulate post pill – when the contraceptive pill actually turns off ovulation.
While in Eastern cultures, women believe that it is imperative that they take certain care to look after their cycles throughout their entire life.
What does this mean?
Firstly, there are genetic pre-dispositions that we all face with our health, but that doesn’t mean we have to go down the same path as our ancestors. I once heard a quote “Our genes load the gun, but our environment is what pulls this trigger”. In other words our daily life habits and individual environments are important to change these patterns to prevent illness and maintain wellness.
In the east, women live by a rule that it is very important to not eat cold foods during one’s period and to rest for a month after giving birth. Why so?
Chinese medicine helps balances hormones by looking at 4 concepts – hot, cold, excess and deficient. As an example, ‘excess’ means too much, while ‘deficient’ means too little. These concepts describe basic pathological states that are to be addressed in treating gynaecological health. An excess pattern can be seen as Endometrial fibroids inside the pelvic cavity (otherwise known as a blockage), while a deficient pattern can be seen as a very light or no period present at all. In relation to temperatures, the hot and cold nature of food is distinctive from the physical temperature of food, yet both states mutually reinforce each other.
Consuming cold foods during your cycle
Chinese medicine helps balance hormones by recommending to not consume cold foods just before or during the menstrual cycle. The reason is that ‘cold’ has the property of contracting and constricting, while ‘warmth’ is more moving and flowing. The key to healthy, manageable and pain free cycles is to maintain the proper flow of discharge of menstrual blood on a regular monthly basis. This includes the quality of the menstrual blood – not too dark and clotted or too little and light coloured.
Many women visit the clinic and say “My period is always quite painful and I feel like I can’t quite function for a couple of days but it’s just my normal”. Just because this is the way you have always felt in your cycle, does not mean it is okay or healthy. There are better ways so let’s keep reading …
Cold foods and bodily exposure to cold temperatures just before or during menstruation can cause painful cramps and in certain situations lead to ongoing gynaecological issues. Swimming on your period is a big NO NO in Chinese medicine – you guess it.. Cold! While you are menstruating, the cervix is more open, leading the cooler temperature of the water to lodge inside your pelvic cavity. The advancement of tampons made life a little easier for women, but if you can miss a swim on day 1-3 of your cycle, your health will thank you for it.
I have found that in my clinical practice that almost all of my patients with digestive complaints in one form or another have come to understand this basic understanding of temperatures and how Chinese medicine helps balance hormones this way. For these patients, physically cold foods such as salads or too many smoothies with ice and raw fruit, will exacerbate their digestive complaints and therefore upset the natural rhythms of their cycles. Even symptoms such as bloating can be resolved by reducing cold foods and drinking room temperature water.
Some women can object and say they can eat a very cold diet of raw vegetables, drink ice water and swim to their hearts content and have pain free, non-clotted, easy flowing periods! Yes, some women don’t seem to be as vulnerable as others, but that doesn’t validate the principles in general. These women may experience ‘contracting and constriction’ in other areas of their health, such as tension headaches, acne, breast tenderness, mood swings and pain elsewhere in the body.
To learn more about the specific nature of how food is determined cold, neutral or hot, or to learn more about how Chinese medicine help balances hormones with acupuncture and herbal medicine, then get in touch.You can contact me or you can now book online.
Hi, I’m Tanya, an Acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia. I practice Chinese medicine because its safe, logical, relevant and has effectively shown methods of natural wellness for thousands of years (read more about my training here). Life doesn’t need to be complicated and nor does the treatment approaches to get people feeling vibrant and well. I’ve seen people gain a lot from treatments, much more than just alleviating symptoms. It’s exciting to connect with people and share deep wisdom from the classics of ancient and traditional medicine, with modern protocols for todays mind-body living. See you in the clinic !
Research: