In TCVM, Food Therapy is used to help balance the body’s energy.

The saying “you are what you eat” is central to the TCVM theory of Food Therapy. Food Therapy is the use of foods to help potentiate or enhance the effects of acupuncture and herbal medicine to treat and prevent disease. All foods have an energy associated with them, ie. temperature such as warming or cooling, and taste such as sweet, sour, pungent, salty or bitter.

In TCVM, Food Therapy is used to help balance the body’s energy. As an example, if an animal is too hot, cooling foods are recommended; if the animal is cold, warming foods are recommended. Food recommendations are specific to each animal’s needs. These can be added as a supplement or topping to the current diet or grouped together in a recipe and fed as the sole diet.

The effects of Food Therapy are slower than acupuncture or herbal medicine, but work with these modalities to balance the body. Finally, owners enjoy being able to participate in and contribute to the healing process of their pet.