Acupuncture Treats Food Poisoning
Every year
millions of people suffer from bouts of vomiting and diarrhea due to food
poisoning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that there are as many as 33 million cases of food poisoning in the United
States annually.
While most cases are mild and pass so rapidly that they are never
diagnosed, occasionally a severe outbreak creates a newsworthy public
health hazard. The recent outbreak in the United States is such a case.
More than 11 weeks into the biggest Salmonella outbreak linked to fresh
produce ever in the United States, a strain of Salmonella has sickened over
869 people across the country, causing tomatoes to be pulled from shelves
and restaurants.
Acupuncture and Oriental medicine can be of great help when it comes to
relieving symptoms of and recovering from food poisoning. In most cases,
the recommendation for food poisoning is to rest and drink plenty of
fluids. Acupuncture and Oriental medicine can actually relieve symptoms,
hasten recovery and also strengthen the digestive system to prevent future
incidents of food poisoning, avert the development of chronic immune
deficiencies and increase energy levels.
What is Food Poisoning?
Food poisoning is a general term for any illness arising from eating
contaminated foods. Also known as foodborne illness, infectious diarrhea or
gastroenteritis, food poisoning is generated by a variety of microorganisms
including bacteria, viruses and parasites. The most common bacteria to
cause food poisoning are Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli and
Shigella.
Food poisoning is marked by severe diarrhea, fever, cramping, abdominal
pain, flu-like symptoms, vomiting and diarrhea. Most cases of food
poisoning clear up on their own within a week without any medical
assistance; however, it can take several months before bowel habits return
to normal. Often the digestive system is severely weakened after a bout of
food poisoning, making the infected person more susceptible to food
poisoning in the future. A small number of persons with food poisoning
develop an autoimmune disease called Reiter's syndrome. It can last for
months or years, and can lead to chronic arthritis.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Food Poisoning
In Oriental medicine, food poisoning is recognized as dampness and heat in
the stomach and intestines due to the ingestion of unclean food or drink.
Traditionally, damp heat conditions were seen mostly in the summer months
when heat and humidity are at their peak. It is interesting to note that
the CDC confirms that most cases occur in the warm months between July and
October.
Treatment of food poisoning is rest and hydration to prevent fluid and
electrolyte loss through vomiting and diarrhea. Acupuncture and Oriental
medicine can be used to relieve nausea and vomiting, hasten recovery by
assisting the body to eliminate the pathogen faster, and strengthen the
digestive system to prevent any reoccurrences as well as the development of
a chronic immune disorder.
A simple diet of clear fluids and small, frequent meals consisting of
bland, soft, easy to digest foods is usually recommended. The B.R.A.T. diet
is commonly prescribed during active bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.
B.R.A.T. is an acronym for bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.
The Acupuncture Treatment
Generally, the acupuncture treatment is aimed at draining dampness and heat
from the intestines to remove the pathogen while simultaneously calming the
stomach to stop nausea and vomiting. After the acute symptoms subside,
acupuncture treatments are focused on strengthening the digestive system
and improving energy levels to bring about a full recovery.
Is your digestive system functioning as well as it could? Acupuncture
and Oriental medicine are extremely effective at treating a wide array of
digestive disorders. Please call us for more information or to schedule an
appointment.
Points for Food Poisoning
While many different acupuncture points are used,
depending on your specific symptoms and the state of your overall health,
here are some acupuncture points that are commonly used to treat
gastroenteritis:
Stomach 25 (St 25) and Ren 4 (Co 4) are two acupuncture
points located on the abdomen around the umbilicus. They are used for
abdominal pain, cramping and to drain heat and damp from the intestines.
Stomach 36 (St 36) is located on the shin, below the knee. It is a
very powerful point used to adjust and balance the physiological activity
of the digestive system and relieve stomach pain. It is one of the major
points on the body for the GI tract. It triggers the body to increase the
secretion of hydrochloric acid, dissolve food and move it out of the
stomach and intestines.
Pericardium 6 (Pc 6) is located two finger breadths above the inside
of the wrist. This acupuncture point alleviates nausea.
How to Prevent Food Poisoning
Here are four simple guidelines to ensure that your
summer holidays are not memorable for all the wrong reasons: clean,
separate, cook and chill.
Clean: Wash hands, surfaces, utensils and platters often. Rinse all
produce in cold running water before peeling, cutting or eating.
Separate: Keep foods that won't be cooked separate from raw meat and
poultry. Don't use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat
and poultry.
Cook: Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy
harmful bacteria.
Chill: Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in shallow containers.
* If you are ill with diarrhea or vomiting, do not prepare food for others,
especially infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems
since they are more vulnerable to infection.
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In This Issue
·
Acupuncture
Treats Food Poisoning
·
Points for
Food Poisoning
·
How to
Prevent Food Poisoning
·
Ginger Aids
Digestion
·
Study:
Ginger and E. coli
Ginger Aids Digestion
Did you know that
ginger is always served with sushi because of its ability to prevent food
poisoning?
Ginger has been found to increase the secretion of gastric juice and the
production of hypochloride. This means that food is digested more quickly;
creating an unfriendly environment for bacteria that could wreak havoc with
your stomach and intestines.
Ginger works as well at treating the symptoms of food poisoning as it does
preventing them. In fact, ginger can be used for most digestive upsets that
involve nausea, vomiting, cramping, abdominal pain, indigestion or
diarrhea.
Whether your digestive problem is due to eating contaminated food, stomach
flu, pregnancy or motion sickness, ginger is one of the most effective
agents around.
Study: Ginger and E. coli
“Newest” Tool in Global Fight Against Childhood
Killer? Ginger
Could one of the most widely used herbs in cooking around the world be just
the right medicine for one of the deadliest conditions children face around
the world?
That’s the promise pointed at by a new study published in the October, 2007
issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and
Food Chemistry.
In this study, researchers in Taiwan looked at the role of a ginger extract
in blocking the toxin that causes 210 million cases of diarrhea worldwide.
The toxin is produced by enterotoxigenic E. coli, which accounts for
380,000 worldwide deaths annually. The study found that zingerone, a
compound in ginger, was the likely compound responsible for blocking the
toxin.
Further study is needed to confirm these findings and determine appropriate
dosage, especially for infants. But this natural wonder offers a very
inexpensive alternative to drug therapy and great hope to thousands of
children in poor countries around the world.
Source: American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry
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