ACUPUNCTURE PATTERNS AND NUTRITIONAL BALANCING SCIENCE

by Lawrence Wilson, MD

© July 2010, The Center For Development

Dr. Paul Eck once told me that the science that is closest to nutritional balancing is acupuncture. At the time I did not have the faintest idea what he meant. However, over the years I have come to appreciate his statement. While this is an ongoing research effort, and I am not an accomplished acupuncturist, the following are patterns that appear on hair mineral analyses that seem to correlate well with the terminology and patterns revealed by acupuncture diagnosis.

YANG AND YIN

This is a central theme in acupuncture and in nutritional balancing science. I will just give a few examples of hair analysis patterns that relate to this concept:

· Fast oxidation is more yang, while slow oxidation is more yin. The degree of fast or slow oxidation relate to the degree of yang or yin.
In fact, Dr. David Nickel, OMD wrote an article entitled How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine Work – An Atomic Answer. It was published in the International Journal of Acupuncture And Oriental Medicine, 1995;6 (1-4) 26-29. In it, he notes the vitamin and mineral formulas that are used in nutritional balancing science to correct fast and slow oxidation are very similar to ancient Chinese acupuncture herbal formulas used to correct yang and yin conditions in the body.

· A higher sodium/potassium ratio is more yang, while a lower ratio is more yin. However, if the ratio is very high, it may indicate a more yin condition in some cases.

· A phosphorus level below about 12 mg% appears to be an indicator of reduced liver/gall bladder meridian activity, in our experience. It is also somewhat more yin. A higher phosphorus above about 17 may also be more yang and indicate spiritual development, a process that is more yang in nature.

· A low calcium/magnesium ratio appears to be more yang, while a high ratio above about 10 appears to be a more yin or deficient indicator.

· The presence of toxic metals, particularly lead, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum, appear to be yin indicators. Other metals are more yang indicators, such as selenium, chromium and zinc. However, assessing them is sometimes tricky. One must understand how to interpret the test by the method of Dr. Paul Eck, as sometimes minerals rise as they are being eliminated through the hair and skin tissues.

· Four lows pattern, three lows pattern and the bowl pattern are more yin. Double high ratio pattern is more yang. Double low ratio pattern is much more yin.

OTHER IMPORTANT ACUPUNCTURE-RELATED PATTERNS THAT CAN BE SEEN EASILY ON A HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS WHEN THE HAIR IS NOT WASHED AT THE LABORATORY

Yang rising. This is reflected on hair mineral analyses as usually an adult with elevated sodium and potassium levels. This occurs in several situations:

· Fast oxidation in an adult. The pattern may look like a true fast oxidizer, a tired fast oxidizer (a low sodium/potassium ratio) or a four highs pattern as described below.

· Four highs/three highs pattern. This occurs when three or four macrominerals – calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium – above their ideal levels. The oxidation rate, in these cases, may be either fast, slow or mixed. Please read Four Highs Pattern on this website for more information about this interesting mineral pattern.

· Slow on crutches pattern. This is a slow oxidation pattern. However, the oxidation rate is really even slower than it appears, and the person’s sodium and potassium levels are pushed upwards by some type of toxin or stressor. It is a fairly common pattern. Please read Slow Oxidizer On Crutches on this website for more on this pattern.

Blood deficiency. This may be seen on some hair mineral analyses as a bowl pattern. In particular, it appears to be connected with a calcium/magnesium ratio greater than about 10.5 or perhaps 11. Please read The Bowl Pattern on this website for more about this interesting hair analysis pattern.

Yin deficiency. This may be indicated by a hair sodium/potassium ratio less than about 2. Please read The Sodium/potassium Ratio on this website for more about this common pattern.

On this topic, a product of Dr. Paul Eck’s we use to help correct a low sodium/potassium ratio called Limcomin is actually quite similar in some ways to traditional Chinese herbs that are used for yin deficiency.

Damp heat. This common tendency in acupuncture has to do with copper toxicity in most cases. In acupuncture texts, damp heat is associated with dysmenorrhea, acne, female organ problems, liver dysfunction, a slight yellow color of the skin, emotional upsets, seizures, and perhaps other conditions that we find associated with copper imbalance. Usually one has too much copper that may be biounavailable. The person is usually in slow oxidation, and more often a woman than a man.

MERIDIAN PATTERNS

Here are a few basic hair analysis patterns that relate to the condition of particular acupuncture meridians:

· Liver/gall bladder: the calcium, copper, manganese, iron, and particularly the phosphorus level. Lead, cadmium, copper and mercury appear to be the most damaging to the liver/gall bladder meridian, though all toxins can affect it.

· Kidney/bladder: sodium, potassium and zinc levels. A low sodium/potassium ratio indicates some kidney weakness.

· Spleen/pancreas/stomach: calcium/magnesium ratio, and the levels of magnesium and chromium.

· Lung/large intestine: copper, in particular if it is very high.

· Conception vessel: thyroid indicators such as the calcium/potassium ratio and perhaps copper and mercury levels.

· Triple heater: faster oxidation favors it. Also, a good sodium/potassium ratio favors this meridian’s energy. A low sodium/potassium ratio always indicates some weakness. Also, a good calcium/magnesium ratio favors this meridian energy.

NUTRITIONAL BALANCING MODALITIES AND ACUPUNCTURE ENERGIES

The following are ways in which nutritional balancing uses healing modalities to balance the acupuncture meridians and other imbalances related to acupuncture terminology.

To fully understand and appreciate the following sections, one needs to know that most people’s bodies are extremely yin. The cause is hidden radiation toxicity. It is rarely discussed, even in medical and acupuncture texts. However, it invalidates some of ancient acupuncture by reducing some of the diagnostic accuracy of ancient medical acupuncture. Fortunately, the hair mineral analysis does not seem to suffer from this modern insidious threat to our health.

· Foods: Macrobiotics is an ancient Japanese science that can help one understand the yin and yang effects of foods. I use their principles, rather than the principles of yin and yang in foods found in textbooks of traditional Chinese medicine. I am not sure why, but the macrobiotic system seems to work far better today than the traditional Chinese system in most cases. However, in clinical practice, I have had to modify the macrobiotic system as well for today’s nutritional depleted people.
Organic food is far more yang in most, though not all cases. This is due to higher mineral content and lower pesticide and toxic metal content. Cooking food makes it far more yang, which is helpful today.
Therefore, avoid almost all raw foods. However, dairy products, must be eaten raw to obtain the omega-3 fatty acids and bioavailable calcium. Pasteurized dairy products are therefore not as healthful. Meats should also not be overcooked, and eggs are best eaten only lightly cooked and soft for the same reasons. Egg yolks should be runny. Meats and eggs are among the most yang foods.
Vegetables: Today there is a great need for the many excellent phytochemicals found in cooked vegetables. Raw vegetables are far too yin to be eaten in any quantity. Also, we find that few people can absorb enough minerals from raw vegetables as the human intestinal tract cannot break down the fiber well enough.
Therefore steam, bake, stir-fry or roast all vegetables. Fresh vegetables are far more yang, although frozen is okay. Canned are not as good as they are likely to be more yin.
Kelp or kombu in Japanese appears to be an excellent vegetable dried in capsules or cooked. Other sea vegetables are higher in mercury and do not contain enough alginates and other phytochemicals to offset the mercury, so they should be strictly limited. However, they are very nutritious. Avoid spirulina, chlorella and blue-green algae (see below). These are very yin and appear harmful.
Yin and yang vegetables: Sweet potato is quite yin and should be eaten in small quantities only. Starchy root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, rutabaga and parsnips are somewhat yin, but their nature as a root improves this quality and they are very nourishing. Onion and garlic are superb root vegetables and high in selenium, an important mineral today. Greens are excellent, as are the cabbage family of vegetables (cabbage cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and others), and others such as celery. Nightshades are very yin and somewhat toxic, and best avoided.

Proteins are more yin, but needed for slow oxidizers more than for fast oxidizers because they have a yangizing effect on protein synthesis and tend to support the liver/gall bladder activity. Red meats and eggs are most yang and some is okay for most people. Lamb is better than beef, which has become more yin due to hybridization and genetic modification. Red meats are higher in iron, which is not as good for some people with iron toxicity.
Chicken and turkey are excellent. Fish are nourishing foods, but much too high in mercury for general consumption at all. The exception are sardines, herring, anchovies, smelt and other very small fish, though even these must not be consumed more than about three times weekly. Salmon once a week is okay and wild-caught may be more healthful, though not necessarily. All shellfish and seafood (lobster, clams, oysters, eel, octopus, shrimp, scallops, crabs and others) are usually very toxic with heavy metals and should all be totally avoided. Beans or legumes are quite yin and starchy, and should only be eaten a few times weekly unless one has no other proteins to eat.
Dairy foods, if raw and fresh, are superb as long as one is not allergic to them. These should be in the diet to provide bioavailable calcium, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and many other vital nutrients.
Nuts and seeds are extremely yin (they grow high up in the air in most cases). They can be eaten occasionally, but not as staple foods.
Brewer’s and nutritional yeast are mildly yin and may be eaten as a side addition for their many nutrients such as chromium and selenium, for which they are excellent. Algae such as spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae and others contain considerable protein, but are really vegetables that are very yin and appear less healthful. I suggest totally avoiding them until further research can discover ways to eat these foods healthfully.
Fats and oils are even more yin, and most helpful for those who are more yang – namely, fast oxidizers. They tend to cool down the metabolic rate and yang condition of the body. Those with a low sodium/potassium ratio need less of them as they are somewhat less yang than a true fast oxidizer, which is a person with a normal sodium/potassium ratio.
Some people with a fast oxidation rate cannot eat much fat. These individuals are usually temporary fast oxidizers and their oxidation rate will change within a few months to a year to slow oxidation. In these cases, the hair analysis must be studied carefully to look for telltale signs of underlying slow oxidation. These include a zinc level greater than about 13 mg%, a low phosphorus level, a low sodium/potassium ratio, or other imbalances such as high levels of the three amigos (iron, manganese or aluminum) or other toxic metals.
Avoid most coconut oil, palm oil and avocado because they are very yin. A little bit is okay, however. Coconut and palm oils are otherwise healthful.
Carbohydrates: Sugars are extremely yin. For this reason, we tend to avoid all of them, including most fruits, vegetables that are really fruits (cucumber, okra, squashes and the nightshade vegetables – tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and all peppers). Hot peppers are slightly more yang than sweet peppers and therefore a little better, but not recommended highly at all.
Complex carbohydrates or starches are often well-balanced foods, in general, except that wheat is very hybridized and a very inflammatory food, and should be avoided by everyone in all forms, even organic whole wheat products. This is unfortunate but true. Also avoid spelt, as it is close to wheat and another inflammatory food.
Other excellent grains for those that can handle them are brown basmati rice, rye, and especially blue corn that is far more yang than most other corn. Organic blue corn chips with sea salt appear to be an excellent snack food. Other good grains are millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and perhaps some oatmeal, barley and others if one tolerates them well. As health improves, one usually tolerates them better.

· Drinking and bathing water. Water is very yin, but needed for life. We only recommend spring water for daily drinking purposes. Well water is often okay, but most is somewhat contaminated with pesticides that will not be revealed on standard water tests. Some well waters have high levels of toxic metals and should be strictly avoided.
Distilled and reverse osmosis water are the most yin waters, as they are devoid of minerals. Distilled is good at the beginning of a nutritional balancing program as it attracts and removes some loosely bound toxic metals. It can also be used during a toxic healing reaction for a short period of time to remove toxins faster. However, do not drink distilled water long-term, as it will leach vital minerals from the body. Also, do not drink reverse osmosis water, as it does not hydrate the body well. It is also extremely yin. It is sold in machines, supermarkets and health food stores as “purified water”, “drinking water”, Dasani water, Agua Fina and many others.
Too much bathing is also yin and to be avoided. Shower every other day, if possible. Even living by the ocean or lakes is quite yin. For more on water, read Water For Drinking and Hydration on this website.

· Rest and sleep: This is yin, but absolutely needed by most people, so it cannot be reduced or skipped. Go to bed early. This is the more yang time of the night and very critical for rebuilding the body. Read more about this in the article on this website entitled Rest and Sleep.

· Other lifestyle modifications: Plenty of rest and sleep, emotional control, and avoiding toxins of all kinds in the air, water, food, occupational exposures and contact exposure are critical today in a highly toxic world.
Radiation is the ultimate yin toxin and should be avoided. This means limiting all x-rays as much as possible. It also means limiting air travel, as it exposes a person to too much radiation at high altitudes and airport x-ray machinery. Most travel is quite toxic in other ways as well, such as pesticides in hotel rooms, breathing stale and contaminated air in planes, trains, buses, etc., eating improperly prepared foods laced with chemicals, and for other reasons, too. Car travel is usually the best.
Also avoid most medical drugs, over-the-counter drugs, recreational drugs including marijuana or cannabis, and many other toxins such as alcohol, which is extremely yin as well.
Sugar and even most fruits are extremely yin and in fact toxic today. All feed yeast in the yin bodies and upset the blood sugar, which is already out of balance. Do your best to avoid all sweeteners in all foods and beverages. Also, avoid most fruits and all fruit juices, even diluted, as they are extremely yin and often sprayed with pesticides today, even those labeled organic.
Chemical food preservatives, flavors, colors and hundreds of other additives are generally very yin. For this reason, avoid most processed and prepared food items. This means you must cook at home and eat out sparingly. When eating out, choose ethnic or smaller restaurants where food is prepared fresh, and generally avoid chain restaurants, as they usually use many more prepared and chemical-laden foods.
Table salt is quite yin and toxic. Use sea salt, a decent food that can enhance your diet. Do not drink water with salt in it, however. Cook with salt as this has a yangizing effect.

· Mineral therapy. This is most helpful for all the meridians, when recommended properly. This is not easy to do, however, but Dr. Paul Eck discovered many secrets of how to do it properly. We use mainly chelated minerals, as most other types are very yin and therefore not as helpful. Be careful to avoid “natural” minerals from the earth or the sea, as these are usually contaminated with toxic metals, no matter what the company claims.

· Glandular extracts: This is an important aspect of nutritional balancing. Glandulars are the most yang type of nutritional supplements, and this is why they are so helpful. They also provide many subtle nutrients the body needs and they seem to strengthen particular organs, glands and meridians in unusual ways.
We use only freeze-dried glandulars. The salt extracted glandulars such as those from Standard Process are okay, though not superior, as some claim.

· Vitamin therapy: Most vitamins are good for the liver/gall bladder meridian that is weak in most people. Exceptions are iron, as most people have too much already from eating a lot of meat and white flour products. This is one reason we rarely suggest supplemental iron. Most synthetic vitamins, in particular, and all vitamins are somewhat yin, so we do not use any more than are absolutely required.
Vitamin C is very important. However, most people use too much. Vitamin C, especially in the synthetic form of ascorbic acid, is extremely yin. It is still very beneficial, but the amount needed is small. It is not true that a food-based vitamin C is more effective, in our experience, nor is it better absorbed.

· Amino acids, enzymes and specialty products: These can be very helpful at times. We use a powerful digestive aid, GB-3, for everyone. It contains ox bile, pancreatin and dehyrocholic acid, a bile acid. This is a very yang supplement compared to other digestive aids and other liver support supplements, which is why we much prefer it over the vegetable-based digestive aids such as protease, amylase, lipase and others. These are far more yin and hard on the liver, in our experience. They also do not work nearly as well.
Isolated amino acids can be helpful and we use some, but too many are toxic and very yin. We use taurine, cysteine and methionine. These are more yang and contain sulfur, a yang mineral many people need more of. We do not like yin forms of sulfur as much, such as MSM or methylsulfonylmethane. This will give extreme symptom relief, but they will eventually make the body more yin, which is disastrous for some people.

· Herbs. Herbs are powerful, but many are very yin and most contain some toxic substances, in our experience. I hope this can be corrected. Especially Chinese and Indian or Ayurvedic herbs are somewhat toxic. This was not the case 100 years ago and before that, but the planet is now more polluted than ever. For this reason, we avoid all of these herbs.
American herbs are often best, though some Amazon herbs are fair. Herbs are often remedies and nutritional balancing is not about remedies, but rather about balancing the body gently and delicately, which causes most symptoms to go away. Please exercise great caution with all herbs, no matter what anyone claims about them today.

· Coffee enemas and/or colon hydrotherapy: These appear to be excellent and sometimes absolutely needed for the liver/gall bladder meridian and to detoxify the liver and the large intestine. These are very underrated therapies and could save millions of lives if more people did them regularly.

· Sauna therapy with a near infrared sauna: This is also an excellent and very yang therapy that is safe for most people and easy to use. It is somewhat similar to burning moxa, but safer and easier in most cases. It appears to be very good for the spleen/pancreas meridian and to detoxify the skin and the entire body. Other subtle benefits may include adding yang energy to the body via the infrared lamps.

· Relaxation and meditation: These are absolutely needed to calm down the overheated liver meridian energy in most people today, caused by too much iron and other toxins in the liver such as copper. Another reason for an overheated liver is anger, and another is a weak and often very diseased large intestine.
The Roy Masters meditation exercise has many complex benefits and is the most yang meditation we are aware of, so far. Read more about this in the article on this website entitled Meditation.

CONCLUSION

This article introduces the very complex and compelling connections between traditional Chinese medicine and nutritional balancing science. The latter may be viewed as a modern version of acupuncture in many ways. I will add more to this article as more connections are discovered, as I know they will be.

Another article on this website that discusses yin and yang, and their application in healing is Yin And Yang Healing Methods.

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