The American dietary habits of eating on the run, consuming cold and raw foods, drinking iced beverages, adults eating a preponderance of dairy products, fondness for sweets, fried foods, and alcohol, are perhaps the greatest contributing factors to digestive disorders. The spirit in which food is eaten is also quite important, according to Chinese medicine. While eating, concentration should be focused on that activity. Worrying or thinking while eating may cause the body harm. Also, returning to work immediately after a meal, or working while eating, could compromise the digestive process.
Proper digestion is necessary for good health.
Undigested or incompletely digested food molecules that are absorbed into the system can lead to various diseases and the development of food allergies. Conditions of the small intestine often cause malabsorption syndromes. Symptoms and Syndrome Patterns TCM treatment of diseases is based on the correct differentiation of syndrome patterns. Thus, while the Western diagnosis of some conditions may differ, the TCM pattern may be the same. For example, Crohn s disease and ulcerative colitis are biomedically different.