Neil Kingham

It should be no surprise that what we eat makes a massive difference to our energy levels. After all, food is our fuel. Using the knowledge and theories of Chinese Medicine, it is possible to determine the best energy-boosting foods for our own circumstances.

According to Chinese medicine, our day to day Qi energy is derived from the Qi of the foods we consume. We wouldn’t dream of putting the wrong kind of fuel into our cars, yet we regularly try to fuel ourselves with inappropriate foods. Our own Qi then suffers as a result of the poor quality Qi we consume, leaving us weak, tired, with poor immunity and at increased risk of degenerative diseases.

Fresh Organic Ingredients:

The more we process a food the more we damage its Qi. Extended storage also depletes the Qi of foods. It stands to reason that fresh, organic food has a stronger ‘life force’ than old, processed food. Additionally, there is little or no useful Qi in artificial additives, preservatives etc, and these substances can be harmful in themselves.

So, opting for unprocessed, fresh organic produce as much as possible will provide your body with far more nourishment than heavily processed, pre-packaged foods. This means cooking from scratch with natural ingredients as much as possible.

Protein:

Naturally, it is sensible to eat a wide range of different foods to ensure that you are getting all the nutrients you need. If you are vegetarian, make sure you are getting enough protein, as protein deficiency can leave you feeling very weak and tired. Good sources of protein include most beans, peas and nuts. Grains contain moderate levels of protein, with amaranth and quinoa having the most. Most seaweed contains high levels of protein, especially nori.

The micro-algaes chlorella and spirulina are exceptionally high in good quality protein – they are both classed as Qi and Blood tonics in Chinese medicine. They are available as powders or capsules from health food and supplement suppliers, and can be useful for anyone who is concerned about their protein intake.

If you eat meat, do not eat too much at once. Meat is a very strengthening, provided it can be digested, but too much in one go puts a big strain on the system. Small amounts can be used in stews, casseroles, soups or stir-fries.

Eat At The Right Time:

We can also help our digestion by always eating breakfast and not eating too much too late in the evening (the digestion is at its strongest between 7 and 11 am and at its weakest between 7 and 11 pm.) Eating breakfast gives us the energy we need for the start of the day, and stimulates the metabolism. A low sugar, carbohydrate rich breakfast such as porridge will keep your energy levels up through the morning.

The Qi tonics

Certain foods are known to be especially good at boosting energy levels – these are the Qi tonics. They include many kinds of meats, grains and root vegetables. For instance, Oats, Chicken, Carrot and Sweet potato are all very good energy-boosters. Which foods are most suitable depends on your exact symptoms – a Chinese Nutritionist will be able to help you with this.

Boost Your Energy Levels With The Chinese Health Arts

For more information about using nutrition and diet to strengthen energy levels, alongside the other Chinese health arts such as qi gong, acupressure and herbs, take a look at my Boosting Energy Levels programme

Headaches are often related to stress or can occur along-side fatigue, muscular pains or insomnia and migraines are often accompanied by nausea, dizziness and aversion to bright lights. In all of these cases, Chinese Medicine can be used to treat the root cause of the problem as well as dealing with the manifestation.

In many cases tight muscles in the neck and shoulders can contribute to or even cause headaches or migraine, and Tui Na massage is especially useful to relax the muscles and often has dramatic effects. If you have held tension in these muscles for some time you may not even realise that they are the cause of the problem.

Diet can be an important factor, particularly with migraine – in some sufferers a specific food can trigger a migraine attack (often shellfish, red wine or chocolate for instance.) Even if there is not a direct trigger such as this it is often possible to control attacks by relatively simple changes to the diet, a Chinese nutritional analysis will reveal if there are changes that you could make in this area.

There are a number of causes of headaches and migraine, and Chinese medicine distinguishes many different types, depending on the nature and location of the pain, and other symptoms. The treatment is based on the Chinese diagnosis, and results are generally excellent.

The acupuncture treatment of headaches and migraines has been extensively researched, and a systematic review of the evidence by the Cochrane collaboration concluded that for migraine acupuncture treatment is at least as effective, or possible more effective than treatment with drugs, but without the side effects. They also found that treatment by acupuncture was effective for chronic tension-type headaches.