Digestive issues can be unsettling, painful, embarrassing, and ultimately devitalizing.

In Chinese Medicine, the digestive system is depicted as central to all other systems in the body. Just as the Earth is our home and source of life, so it is with our digestion. When there is a weakness or illness in the digestive and excretory systems, all other body systems lose their healthy foundation, with the weakest ones going awry first. Fortunately TCM works very well with modern science-based nutrition to have lasting results in both chronic and acute digestive problems.

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Modern scientific research is starting to catch up with what has been documented in Chinese Medicine for millennia, that having a healthy microbiome is essential in providing health to us humans, those legion microscopic critters' gracious hosts. After decades of rampant antibiotic use, unhealthy dietary recommendations and food options, and increasing toxic loads in our environment and bodies, we now understand that it is not only a healthy balance of digestive enzymes or a decrease in inflammation in the digestive tract or a one-size fits all diet that leads to a healthy digestive system and therefore vital and long-lived life. We have to keep our microbiome healthy. Many seemingly unrelated aspects of health including immune function, mental health, and clear skin fall into place when we support our microbiome and digestive strength. For us natural medicine proponents, it is an exciting era in medicine when MDs are using probiotics to treat depression(1)and chronic infections.(2, 3, 4)

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We each benefit from regularly (oftentimes even seasonally) addressing various aspects of our digestion, whether it is through learning what type of suitable and diverse diet our body particularly needs, finding ways to promote detoxification if we have been exposed to toxins through lifestyle or environmental exposures, or finding supplements that heal and reinstate the digestive fire or microbiome. I often work closely with patients on diet and prescribe custom herbal formulas as well as nutritional supplements to nourish and support the digestive system and microbiome. I also find that many people show up with nutritional deficiencies at the root of their ailments, and therefore benefit from temporary targeted vitamin supplementation to fully recover from their health problems. 
 

Digestive Health Concerns that benefit from Chinese Medicine:

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•   Heartburn, Acid Reflux

•   Chronic indigestion

•   Peptic ulcer

•   Acute and chronic gastritis

•   Morning sickness

•   Nausea and vomiting

•   Irritable Bowel Syndrome 

•   Inflammatory Bowel Disease 

•   Small Intestinal Bacterial or Fungal Overgrowth

•   Chronic loose stools or constipation

•   Crohn's Disease

•   Ulcerative Colitis 

•   Underperforming or removed gallbladder

•   Hepatitis (all)

•   Non-Alcoholic Fatty Livery Disease

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The above list of digestive conditions we treat is not comprehensive. If your condition is not listed, please feel free to call or email the clinic to schedule a free 15 minute initial phone consultation. If we do not feel that we are the best health care providers for you, we will provide you with referrals to help you on your way to better health.

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Sources:

1. "Clinical and metabolic response to probiotic administration in patients with major depressive disorder: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.â€

2."Probiotics in Preventing Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women: A Literature Review"

3. "Sinus microbiome diversity depletion and Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum enrichment mediates rhinosinusitis"