The stomach is a simple organ from both the Western and Eastern medical perspectives. Even though it has a simple task, if it isn’t able to accomplish this task, huge problems can and will result.
Western medicine classifies the stomach as a muscular organ, located towards the left of the upper abdomen. The stomach’s job is to break down food by secreting acids and creating a muscular pulse that ensures the food is broken down evenly. Imagine using a food processor to break down big pieces of carrot into tiny little chopped pieces; this is what the stomach does but with the use of acid and digestive enzymes verses the food process blades.
Chinese medicine classifies the stomach as the Governor of intake and decomposition. To put in simple terms, the stomach is in charge of your appetite, breaking down food and moving it into the small intestine, effortlessly. When your stomach is working properly, you really do not think about your stomach much.
Stomach function can break down over time due to many factors such as poor eating, stress, lack of exercise and physical trauma (car accidents, falls, and surgeries), etc. When the stomach is weak there can be fullness and distention in the stomach duct and abdomen, sluggish or inactive appetite, rapid hungering, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, belching, heart burn and acne around the mouth.
Food is an amazing ‘medicine’ that is continually at our fingertips. A few powerful foods to help heal the stomach are cabbage and kale, which in fact, are great for reducing inflammation and treating both stomach and duodenal ulcers. Celery and cucumber are both cooling in nature and bring lots of moisture into the body to combat inflammation. Shitake mushrooms are used to prevent and heal the stomach of cancer and ginger is an antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea piece of gold! Increase your intake of these vegetables if you tend to have stomach problems.
Again, if your stomach function is weak on a consistent basis, you can eat all the health food you want and exercise your booty off but it won’t re-boot your Stomach’s function. The best way to re-boot your Stomach or any organ is to have Acupuncture by a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac). Acupuncture is the use of tiny little ‘needles’ that are placed into a specific location on your body. Once the needle is inserted into the skin, it wakes up the nerve which sends a message to your brain to heal a specific part of your body. It is a simple, non-invasive form of healing that actually fixes your body.
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