Acidic Chinese Medicine Treatment

Acidic Chinese medicine treatments are used to target ailments associated with liver dysfunction and other ailments associated with discharge and excess fluid in the body. Unlike many Western treatments that center around drugs or invasive treatments, traditional acidic Chinese medicine treatments focus on the properties of acidic foods to return balance to the body.

Acidic Chinese Medicine in Brief

• Acidic Chinese medicine largely focuses on foods with acidic or sour flavors. In traditional Chinese medicine, the flavor of a food reveals its medicinal properties, and foods are categorized by four flavors: spicy, sour, sweet and salty. While Westerners prescribe foods based on their nutritional content, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners see flavors as the key to determining a food's beneficial properties. Depending on the specific needs of the individual, certain flavors should be emphasized and others should be minimized.

Liver Conditions

• Acidic flavors enter the liver. Therefore, acidic Chinese medicinal treatments can be applied to conditions that involve the liver such as liver fire, liver qi stagnation and liver yang rising.

  Liver fire
  The symptoms of liver fire are associated with the Western medicine diagnoses of irritable bowel syndrome, attention deficit disorder, fibromyalgia, acid reflux disease, migraines, herpes, mania and bipolar disorder.

  Liver qi stagnation
  Liver qi stagnation is associated with PMS, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, pelvic inflammatory disease and colitis among others.

  Liver yang rising
  This condition is associated with migraines, blurred vision and depression.

Discharge and Excess

• Acidic flavors have the ability to absorb excess fluids in the body. Therefore, acidic foods are used to treat ailments associated with discharge and excess such as:
  Chronic diarrhea
  Dysentery
  Hemorrhoids
  Excessive bleeding (including wounds, hemorrhoids, blood in stool and other bleeding disorders)
  Frequent urination and incontinence
  Excessive sweating
  Involuntary nocturnal emissions
  Chronic cough

Acidic Foods

• These foods are dominated by an acidic or sour flavor, which signifies that they target the liver and prevent discharge and excess fluid within the body.
  Black plums
  Raspberries
  Lemons
  Apples
  Apricots
  Kumquats
  Lychee
  Mandarin oranges
  Mangoes
  Olives
  Peaches
  Pineapples
  Plums
  Raspberries
  Adzuki beans
  Star fruit
  Strawberries
  Tangerines
  Tomatoes
  Vinegar
  Pears
  Plums

Balance

• Keep in mind that while acidic Chinese medicine treatments prescribe a diet that is partial to sour flavors, balance is still the key to a proper diet and long-term health. Each flavor has negative and positive properties, and only when present together do they provide harmony to the internal organs. For example, while acidic flavors strengthen liver qi, they weaken spleen qi. Therefore, all five flavors should be consumed daily.