Every so often, my feed fills up with reels claiming ginger is the answer to just about everything. Bloated? Drink ginger tea. Headache? Take a ginger shot. Feeling sluggish or coming down with something? Ginger, ginger, ginger. Apparently, we should all be adding ginger to our daily routine. Don’t get me wrong, ginger has its…
Category: Alternative Medicine
When Drinking More Water Isn’t the Answer
TCM has a really good explanation for this, and it’s not “drink more water”. Here is something that confused me for the longest time. You can drink water all day, carrying your Stanley cup everywhere, hitting your two litres, doing everything right, and still feel completely parched. Your lips are chapped, your skin and eyes…
Understanding Yin in Women’s Health
There’s a particular kind of tired that doesn’t go away with a good night’s sleep. You sleep, you get up, and technically you’re functioning, but you still don’t feel fully recharged. I’ve felt like that for years. It’s hard to explain because you’re not necessarily exhausted all the time. You just feel like you’re running a…
The Link Between My Gut and My Trigeminal Neuralgia
For years, I only ever treated my trigeminal neuralgia like a jaw problem. The pain was all in my cheek and mouth, so that’s where I looked. I spent years bouncing between dentists and doctors just trying to make it through the next flare-up. When my TCM doctor first told me the real issue was…
The Organ That Doesn’t Exist (But Runs Everything)
So, here’s something interesting. In Chinese medicine, there’s an “organ” that doesn’t actually exist as a physical body part. It’s called the San Jiao, or the Triple Burner. There’s no tissue you can cut open or see on an ultrasound and Western anatomy doesn’t recognize it at all. But TCM treats it like one of…
Holistic Nutritionist vs Dietitian vs Naturopath: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve ever tried to eat better, feel better, or just understand what your body actually needs, you’ve probably come across terms like dietitian, naturopath, and holistic nutritionist… and thought, okay… but what’s the difference? Because on the surface, they can seem pretty similar. They all deal with food, and they all talk about wellness,…
What Holistic Nutrition Actually Is (And What It Isn’t)
When people hear “holistic nutritionist,” they might picture restrictive diets, a cupboard full of supplements, or a whole list of things they suddenly have to stop eating. Others aren’t really sure what it means. For me, it started when I was struggling with my own health. I was dealing with ongoing nerve pain, and I…
The TCM Organ Clock
Your body has a schedule. Here’s what it’s doing every two hours. I’ve noticed that how I feel at 3pm can be completely different from how I feel at 3am, and it’s not just because I’m tired. Our bodies have their own daily rhythms, and things like digestion, hormones, and energy levels change throughout the…
When Your Mind Won’t Slow Down (A Gentle Look at Anxiety Through TCM)
Ever have one of those nights when you just can’t switch your brain off? You’ve made it through the whole day, you’re finally in bed, and the minute your head hits the pillow, your mind starts going. You’re thinking about that awkward conversation from years ago, making a mental list of everything you need to…
Wei Qi: Understanding Your Body’s Protective Energy
Some days I stride through the cold without a second thought. Other days I wince at the slightest breeze on my neck. It wasn’t until I started paying attention to those sensitivities that I truly began to understand Wei Qi. I’ve noticed this in my own body, and for a long time, I didn’t really…
The Perimenopause Tea: 4 Ingredients, Centuries of Wisdom
Perimenopause can feel like your body suddenly has a mind of its own. Hot flashes, 3 a.m. wake-ups, brain fog that has you walking into a room and forgetting why you went in there. It’s a lot. And while there’s no single fix for any of it, I wanted to share something that’s been part…
One Year In: What Holistic Nutrition Has Taught Me So Far
One year into studying Holistic Nutrition. Somehow I’m already a third of the way through, which honestly feels a little surreal. I’ve got two years to go, though depending on how life moves, and how many times I have to read the same paragraph before it actually sinks in, who knows. I may finish sooner….
Feeling Off-Balance? How the Five Elements Explain Your Energy
Ever wake up after a full night’s sleep and still feel completely drained? Or just flat, unmotivated, restless for no obvious reason? Same. And for a long time I thought something was just wrong with me. It’s your body trying to tell you something, and one of the oldest frameworks for understanding those signals is…
Stuck, Bloated, and Tired? Your Body Might Be Showing Signs of Dampness
Have you ever had days when you feel heavy, bloated, and tired, and you can’t quite figure out why? Your body feels sluggish, your head feels foggy, and even when you haven’t done much, you feel like you could use a nap. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), these are some of the feelings that may…
Light, Sweet, and Healing (Snow Fungus Dessert Soup)
We’ve been dealing with lingering dry coughs in our house lately, the kind that leaves your throat scratchy and uncomfortable. The weather has been all over the place, so I did what my mom always did and made snow fungus dessert soup, 糖水. So What Is It? It’s a light, slightly sweet Chinese dessert soup…