Traditional Chinese Medicine is a style built on a foundation of more than 2,500 years of Chinese medical practice that includes various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (Tui-Na), exercise (Qi Gong), and dietary therapy, but recently also influenced by modern Western medicine.

 

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been originated and developed in China, including various forms of acupuncture, dietary therapy, herbal medicine, moxibustion, and physical exercise, which collectively predate to the birth of Chinese civilization.

 

One of the basic tenets of TCM is that "the body's vital energy” (Qi) circulates through channels, called meridians, that have branches connected to bodily organs and functions." Concepts of the body and of disease used in TCM reflect its ancient origins and its emphasis on dynamic processes over the material structure.  “Qi” is balanced in the body through the integration of nutrition and medicine.

 

A healthy diet is a thorough balance of warm and cool energy; the yin - cold, dark, and passive - and the yang - heat, light, and active - are combined in the forms of food to create balance and harmony within the body. Hot versus cold (yin vs. yang) are the two most important oppositions in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).