How Chinese Medicine Can Help You Find Relief From Indigestion and Heartburn During Pregnancy

Introduction to Chinese Medicine and What it Has to do With Helping Your Heartburn During Pregnancy

Chinese medicine is an extremely complete and evolved system of healing that has emerged from the last 3,000 years of experimentation in China.

It is based upon the observation of the natural elements, the observation of the human body, and the observation of the relationship between the human body and the natural world.

There are a couple, quick, basic tenets of Chinese Medicine you should be familiar with to understand your body and what relationship heartburn has to your diet.

Yin-Yang theory

According to Chinese medicine, everything in the world is based upon two principles called Yin and Yang which complement and embody each other. Not only is the entire universe and nature embodied in the principles of Yin and Yang, but the human body contains the principles of Yin and Yang too.

Sleep is Yin, while exercise or exertion is Yang. Things that rest or heal the body are Yin, while exertion and use of energy are considered Yang.

The Six Excesses and Heartburn During Pregnancy

In Chinese Medicine, there are pretty much 6 imbalances that determine whether or not you get sick:

Wind: Itching, Congestion
Cold: Cold sensations, dislike of cold
Fire/Heat: Aversion to heat, being feverish and thirsty
Dampness: Feelings of thickness or heaviness, symptoms of spleen problems
Dryness: Dry lips & throat, dry stools
Summerheat: Damp and Heat symptoms combined

It's also really important to get a basic understanding of foods and their heating/cooling relationships because that is one of the key ways that heartburn during pregnancy arises.

The Two Factors Causing Your Indigestion and Heartburn During Pregnancy

According to Chinese Medical theory, Heartburn other Indigestion-related issues are caused by a liver-stomach imbalance. The some of the qualities involving the liver are related to emotions and how balanced they are.

Chinese medicine cites two main culprits as the origin of the issue: Diet, and Emotions. Heartburn is considered a symptom of excess heat in the body, and thus you want to avoid heating foods.

Those foods to avoid include: alcohol, coffee, spicy foods, and strong, greasy food

#2 Emotional Imbalances or Issues

The liver and stomach are also very closely related in Chinese medicine. Liver imbalances can occur via emotional imbalances: particularly heating emotions like irritability, anger, and frustration. Liver imbalances can easily affect the stomach and which can cause stomach acid to rise into the throat.

One last mention of heating and cooling foods.

We already established that heartburn during pregnancy is a matter of avoiding heating foods as well as heating emotions.

I want to give a brief list of heating / cooling foods so you can get an idea of what those entail, so you know what to avoid:

Heating Foods: (Avoid if you have indigestion or heartburn during pregnancy)

Beef
Chicken
Grapes
Lamb
Walnuts
Chocolate (Sorry!!!)
Oats
Beans

Cooling Foods: (Encourage)

Milk
Yogurt
Flour
Fruit Juices
Celery
Cabbage
Cucumber
Tomato
Peppermint tea

There are quite a few effective modalities for helping treat Indigestion and heartburn during your pregnancy.

To sum up what was covered here, we mentioned 2 very important principles according to Chinese medicine:

Avoiding certain emotions
Avoiding heating foods, and consuming cooling foods

I hope these remedies will help you out and help you find the relief you deserve.

For more information please check out:

http://cureheartburnduringpregnancy.com/