After your first acupuncture appointment, your acupuncturist may talk to you about your diet and what medications or supplements you take. They might recommend you take a certain supplement, if they feel it would be beneficial. Here are some things to consider with regards to acupuncture, nutrition, and dietary supplements.

 

Identify Your Goals

Before you decide to take a nutritional supplement to complement your acupuncture appointments, it is important to identify your goals. This way you can choose the right supplement to help. For instance, if you are looking to improve fertility with acupuncture you would want to take a different supplement than if you were trying to curb food cravings. By discussing your goals with your practitioner, they will be able to make recommendations on what kind of supplement to take.

Understanding Nutrition’s Place in Chinese Medicine

Nutrition and diet therapy are important tenants in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Early practitioners had an understanding of how what we eat impacts how we feel and our health. Many people believe that adhering to a specific diet, free of gluten, dairy, and other ingredients, will improve health. It is important to remember that every person’s body is different and reacts to certain foods in different ways. It could be worth playing with limiting certain ingredients, including salt, to see how that improves how you feel.

BenefitS of Acupuncture and Dietary Changes

There are benefits of improving your diet and undergoing acupuncture. In many ways, both measures will help you feel better and help your health. While acupuncture can reduce the symptoms of certain conditions without any dietary changes, the benefits will be more pronounced for patients that adhere to a more holistic approach toward wellness.

Focus on Whole Foods

It is generally most impactful to focus on whole foods opposed to taking a supplement, whenever possible. For instance, increasing your intake of Vitamin-C foods over taking a chemically-based pill. However, there are some nutrients where this idea wouldn’t be possible. Vegans often lack access to B12, since it is often found in meat products. Taking a B12 supplement would be a smart decision for vegans who have no other way of getting the nutrition they need.

Herbal Supplements Can Help

In addition to vitamins and minerals, there are herbal supplements that might be able to help. Certain herbs have properties that boost immunity or help your body detox. If you’re interested in taking an herbal supplement or wonder if you’d have any benefit from it, discuss this with your acupuncturist, who can provide you information about what they recommend.

Ready to Get Started?

If you are ready to take the first steps toward a more integrative approach to your health care, we invite you to contact Thumos Health Center at 310-927-2792 to schedule an appointment.