Nutrition

Hippocrates advocated nutrition first, then drugs, then surgery. Unfortunately in our modern Western civilisation we have forgotten this and apply the reverse.

As health care practitioners, we believe that medicine is based on a desire to help one’s fellow man, the humane application of scientific knowledge and the use of treatments that are safe and effective for the management and prevention of disease. With continuing research and application, herbal and nutritional medicine will progress from being an ‘alternative’ to drug based medicine, to become the mainstay of both prevention and treatment of many modern diseases.

Nutrition is the sum of the processes involved in taking in nutrients as well as optimal assimilation and utilisation of such nutrients. Essential nutrients are those substances necessary for growth, normal functioning and maintenance of life. They must be supplied by foods as they cannot be made by the body. The main nutrients known to be essential for humans are: amino acids (proteins), carbohydrates, essential fatty acids (fats), vitamins, minerals, fibre, oxygen, water and love.

The main factors that influence nutritional status are the quality and quantity of the food we eat, the efficiency of digestion, absorption and utilisation of nutrients and each person’s biochemical individuality. Nutrition is an involved and intricate study. It requires a good knowledge of biochemistry and physiology to appreciate its beauty and value in medicine.

Biochemical individuality is influenced by age, sex, growth, pregnancy and breast-feeding, current illness(es), psychological and emotional stress, lifestyle and activity levels, genetics, toxic overloads and drug intake.

Today’s Western diets often contain too much salt, fats, refined sugars and flours, too many processed foods, not enough fibre and excessive tea, coffee and alcohol. We are also exposed externally to potentially harmful insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, radiations and microwaves of all sorts as well as internally by food additives, colourings and flavourings. Overuse of once rich farming pastures and chemical fertilisers, poor farm management and processing methods have left our foods with only miniscule fractions of essential nutrients that our ancestors used to enjoy from their organic produce. We have yet to see the ramifications of genetically modified and irradiated foods.

You should always consult your doctor or health care practitioner before taking any nutritional supplements, especially if you are on prescribed medications.

At Bayside Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Clinic we offer all of our patients dietary, nutritional and lifestyle advice as well as acupuncture and herbal medicine for prevention and treatment of all dis-eases.