Comments on: 7 Keys to a balanced vegan diet in line with Chinese medicine philosophy

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:07:53 +0000

Brenda,

I’m sorry to hear about your experience – how frustrating! I think just asking a potential practitioner up front about their orientation towards veganism/vegetarianism is a possible way to find a practitioner you can work with. Or, just come to Portland! Best of luck – come back here and let us know what you end up finding (if anything).

Eric

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:50:48 +0000

I am a yoga instructor and have been vegan for 18 years now. I became vegan as a result of studying nutrition. I began studying nutrition after attending a macrobiotic conference with a friend (I was not macrobiotic) and sat at a table for a meal with numerous people who were sharing stories of overcoming cancer, diabetes, and heart disease by simply changing their diets. It blew my mind so I went to the library and studied up and that, along with my love for animals, led me to become vegetarian and eventually vegan. I was 20 yrs old then. I have been extremely healthy ever since. I used to get the common cold at every change of season but now it’s more like once every few years (and only if I get really over-stressed and eat a lot of junk food at the same time). I am now 38 and have decided to try to get pregnant and have had no luck yet. I have seen a couple CTM practitioners (because I have such a profound respect for much of the wisdom of the East, such as in Buddhism and dislike of Western medicine’s that seems to consist of nothing but harsh drugs with horrific side effects) and nearly rejected the entire field because of their disrespect and lack of understanding of the vegetarian diet. I had one acupuncturist tell me that my blood “must” be unhealthy simply because I am vegan and if I don’t eat meat I will never be truly healthy—this after I told her I have very iron rich blood and have been full of energy and have a very strong immune system as a vegan. Your website has restored my faith in the possibility that I might find a CTM practitioner that I can work with.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:22:43 +0000

Love reading these very informative posts as I love Chinese food and have been studying Qigong for many years now.

By: Gorbizan

Gorbizan — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:35:26 +0000

Hi Eric!
You said “Stir frying, baking and slow cooking will all impart a Stomach-sparing warmth to your food that can help bring balance to a vegan diet.”. Is it important how much is cooked the food? How slow? I heard some opinions that if a food is cooked over 40 Celsius degrees, then there is no live in it. It looks like not a good Qi energy, but I am not specialist in anything chinese, so it was just the best comparison I have found. The explanation relates to some molecular structure issues (the molecules in that over cooked food become opposed, I mean they turn around ad oppose themselves as position to the natural flow of energy inside the material out of which that food is composed from). This is what a chemist engineer found out, a guy which is a complete vegan and promote such diet.

By: Sarah Neidhardt

Sarah Neidhardt — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:40:00 +0000

oh, and Eric, i totally agree that the word “natural” is a kind of elusive term which really holds no value when describing things of this nature. I mean, even the most synthetic substances come from nature so where do you draw the line between natural and unnatural. you know what i mean….

By: Sarah Neidhardt

Sarah Neidhardt — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:34:13 +0000

Ok, just one more thing I have to share. Sorry Dr. Stickely, I know you get an email every time someone posts a comment here, but since I was supposed to have an appt with you on our intern shift tonight and the front desk screwed up, I have to bug you somehow. :)

Anyway, I was thinking about what you said Eric, regarding the positive changes people have experienced when they went on a vegan diet. It reminded me of the number one most powerful lesson that I took from my year at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in Manhattan. The lesson is that the diet that works for you now might not in 5, 10 or 20 years and that we must be receptive to the signs that our bodies send us which let us know if our diet is working.

the founder of IIN was macrobiotic for 15 years and was a disciple of Mitchio Kuchi (sp??). He lived at the ashram with him and was a cook and student. One day, he found himself craving meat so badly that he would sneak to McDonalds and scarf burgers in secret. Obviously, this is the worst possible way to consume meat but his whole point was that his body was changing and that his needs were changing and when he started listening to them his health improved.

I met tons of different people while at IIN. some were on the raw diet, some vegan, some veg, some Atkins, some Zone diet, some
on the paleolithic diet. It was cool to see how people were discovering what worked for them. Some had recently eliminated meat and were thriving, some had finally added it back in after years without it. And our teacher loved to see us debate each other over which diet was “correct”. his whole point was, there is no such thing as the perfect diet.

So just thought I would share that. It was really a profound lesson for me because i used to have somewhat of an eating disorder and my education at IIN really helped me free myself from that. I became a lot kinder to myself regarding food

ok thats all.
vegans are great. meat eaters are great. its all good.

By: Abdallah B. Stickley

Abdallah B. Stickley — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:01:07 +0000

Sarah,

As we discussed I get an email every time someone comments on this post. But I am very excited to hear more about your experiences, and hope we can find time to do so. I can also recommend some interesting new books and ideas that I’ve encountered regarding indigenous hunting practices, as well as permaculture phenomena.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:00:35 +0000

Hey there,

Thanks for your comment! Come back again and comment sometime! :) I don’t find time to do this as much lately, but it was a labor of love in my first couple of years. Now, I’m starting to find time for it again. It should be around a while, as I get more time after school is done. Anyway!

Thanks for your story – it’s always good to hear how people have changed their life by altering their diet. What’s interesting is how many people I’ve known personally who had similar complexes of problems and had them HEALED by a vegan diet! Haha! Just goes to show, from the perspective of health, there’s no right way for everyone.

I’m reluctant to take issue with anything you’ve written, as it’s such a nice comment, but I do feel I want to say something brief. While I’ll agree that many cultures around the world, and most cultures in history, have eaten animal products as part of their diet, I worry about the use of the word “natural” to describe this practice.

Let me explain. I’m taking issue with the normative content of the word “natural.” “Natural,” particularly in our field, means “normal,” and to some extent “good.” That word has been used to justify a number of practices that I am opposed to, and I’m pretty sure you’re opposed to as well. I won’t name them here because I don’t want to give the impression that I feel that those reprehensible things are equal to eating meat! I absolutely do not. But, I do believe that as our march of history goes on, we can look back at some of the things we used to do and say, “Hey, that wasn’t so great even though everyone thought it was normal.” While I could never advocate that everyone be forced not to eat meat, and I do recognize that there is a subset of people (though I’m not sure it would be a huge subset) who thrive more readily on animal products, I also believe that NOT eating meat/animal products is as viable, natural and good a way to live a human life as any other way. Y’know what I mean?

Thanks again for your kind comment and sharing your story.

Eric