As every body is unique, there will always be variations according to individual needs. A few basic guidelines, however, are appropriate as we seek a way of eating that creates balance and harmony. Frame of mind is of utmost importance at mealtime; relax and slowly chew your food for optimal digestion and assimilation. The dinner table is not the place to discuss the day's problems. Chewing is a major part of digestion. Remember that your stomach does not have teeth. The more you chew the greater the surface area and the easier it is to digest the food. Digestion, particularly of the starches, begins in the mouth due to the enzyme amylase and continues in the stomach, as long as the pH is mildly acidic. Foods that are difficult to masticate, such as sesame seeds, should be ground before eating.

Do not space meals too far apart or too close together, generally 2 - 4 meals per day are enough. Try to eat in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere not when you are angry, emotionally upset, working, watching TV, etc.

There are many ways to prepare foods: raw, sprouting, steaming, stir-frying in water, stewing (light boiling, as in soups), baking or broiling. Each of these methods has their time and place for each individual person (bio-type). If oil is desired put it on after the food is cooked. Even the best quality oils become hard to digest or even toxic to the body when heated. Foods should be eaten in their wholeness, when possible. Peel fruits or vegetables only if the peel is hard to digest or contaminated with chemical sprays. Search out organically grown foods to avoid the toxic chemical residues of commercial the growing processes. To clean foods thoroughly, wash them in salt water or a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide. Also avoid irradiated foods and microwave ovens as much as possible.

There are three main thought processes you have to consider with nourishment and food.

1. What, When, Where, and How you eat.

2. How you prepare your food.

Remember the most important thing is the actual nourishment you absorb from your food and drink.

1. As a general rule breakfast and lunch should be your largest meals, and should also have a moderate amount of protein, depending on your metabolic and blood type you may need more or less. Breakfast and lunch should provide you with the most energy for the day when you are active. Have a medium dinner for the less active night, (especially if you’re trying to loose weight). Also according to Oriental Meridian Energetic, the Stomach and Pancreas energy are highest between 7-11am and lowest between 7-11pm. The Large Intestine energy is highest between 5-7 am, this is when you would typically have a bowel movement.

2. Chew your food well, at least 25-50 times, depending on the type of food. This will greatly increase the surface area of the food, which makes digestion much easier and less energy consuming, especially if you tend to get tired after a meal, have digestive problems, or see undigested food in your stool.

3. As every body is unique, there will always be variations in your diet according to your individual needs. Some people need a high protein and vegetable diet while others need high complex carbohydrate and vegetable diet. If you know your blood type you will get a paper that shows you the foods that your body/blood type reacts to positively and negatively. You will also get a form to fill out to help determine your metabolic type.

4. Drink very little fluids just before, during and approximately 1 hour after your meals. The excess fluid will slow the digestive process down by diluting the digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid. Digestion is one of the most energy consuming processes of the body and the excess fluids will increase this even more. This will eventually weaken the whole body by weakening your ability to break down and assimilate your food. Note: Yogurt labels must state on the label: "with active yogurt cultures," "living yogurt cultures," or "contains active cultures." If a yogurt label doesn't say this, then assume that the bacteria in that product are dead!

5. Drink most of your fluids (water) between meals. A good general guideline to determine if you are drinking too much or too little water is to count the number of times you urinate in twenty-four hours. Note the color and clarity of the urine. If you urinate between 4-6 times per day and the urine color is straw yellow or lighter (note: vitamins can make your urine turn bright yellow so don't take that into account) and it is not cloudy, then you are drinking enough fluids. Remember drinking fluids isn't the only way you get water. If you eat any vegetables or fruit they have a lot of fluid. Also all grains and beans are cooked in water and absorb a lot of it in the process which you take in.

6. Try not to snack between meals. Most snacks are junk food and we tend to consume them without thought or need. We usually aren't hungry when we do snack, it is just something to do while we are watching TV, reading, studying or socializing.

7. You should stop eating approximately three hours before you go to bed or before 7pm if possible. Do not have a late night snack, as this will start the whole digestive process going again when you should be sleeping and the liver should be cleaning the blood. This is a very important function.

8. You should eat a wide variety of foods for good balance. This does not mean that in one meal you should have three different grains, five different vegetables, fish, etc. It would be better to have one grain, one legume, and two or three different vegetables at a meal and then at another meal have a different grain or, legume and one or two different vegetables. This is what is meant by a wide variety of foods.

9. Foods and drink should rarely, be eaten or drunk cold. This weakens the digestive system due to the excessive energy needed to warm the food or drink before digestion can occur. In Oriental Medicine the stomach is like a stewing pot and the Spleen/Pancreas is the fire below it. If you put cold water into a boiling pot it will stop the boiling and consume much more energy to heat it back up in the process. Since we get our energy by breaking down and assimilating our food, this will only decrease our net energy increase. Eventually this will weaken the digestive system so that we have chronic digestive disorders that we think are normal because "I always feel this way when I eat" while all that time you have been assimilating less and less from your food. This gets even worse when the quality of food also decreases, such as fast foods, rich and sweet food, and even raw foods. This is why soups and broth’s are one of the best foods for sick and very weak people. They have already started the "Stewing Pot" in the stomach, which makes it much easier to digest and assimilate. Even if some of the nutrients are lost, the net effect is increased absorption overall.

10. Have your fruit between meals. If fruit stays in the stomach too long fermentation will begin, causing a fullness sensation and gas, and inhibiting the normal process of digestion. Fruit should be eaten in small amounts because of the high amount of sugar, (of which most people get more than enough) and the low nutrient value compared to vegetables.

Although this is a "natural" sugar it can still cause a severe fluctuation in blood sugar, even with people that have borderline hypoglycemia. This quick increase in blood sugar levels from fruit happens because the digestive system has become inefficient in regulating the blood sugar levels due to excessive intake of refined sugars in our everyday life, which has made fruit an extreme food when it should be a nourishing and energizing food.

11. Whole vs. Processed: Choose whole foods; that is, foods intact with their bran and fiber. Simple carbohydrates such as white flours, white sugar, etc. are devoid of any real nutritional value beyond simple starches and cause numerous health problems. This extends beyond grains: hard cheeses over-processed cheese; certified raw milk over-homogenized and pasteurized milk products; fruit over fruit juices; real potatoes, grains, hot cereals over their "instant" counterparts.

12. Fresh vs. Frozen vs. Canned: Fresh is the best choice. If you find buying fresh produce is inconvenient, either for reasons of food preparation time or spoilage issues, find a store with a salad bar or deli. Check to see if the produce is organic (preferred) or preserved with sulfites (not preferred) or other methods to retard browning. Ask the store management for such options if they do not already exist. Frozen products can be a wise choice and are superior to canned products. When buying frozen products, read the labels and choose the product with the lowest sodium content, and avoid any “extra” ingredients.

13. Freshly ground/milled vs. shelf goods. If possible buy grains, nut butters, coffees, herbs, etc. freshly ground. Better yet, buy your own grain mill, coffee mill, nut and seed grinder, mortar and pestle and grind your own. Always refrigerate or freeze and protect from sunlight such items to retard oxidation.

14. Organic vs. sprayed produce: It makes good sense to avoid added herbicides, insecticides, fumigants, artificial dyes and colorings. Organic produce may be more expensive but it is well worth the investment. Try to carefully plan your meals to avoid waste. Take advantage of seasonal crops at their peak when prices are low and quality high. If good quality organic produce is not available to you, ask the management of the store you patronize to supply organic foods. Start your own organic food-buying club or look for one to join.

15. Local vs. imported produce: Imported produces from other states or countries require large amounts of fuel in transport, and pesticides banned as unsafe in the U.S. are often still used abroad. When in season support your local growers. Farmer's markets are a joy to attend. Find out if your community holds a regular event (In the Oaks Mall parking lot on Thursday, late afternoon). Plant a garden yourself, and if possible freeze and can the harvest. Start a cooperative garden in your neighborhood or swap bumper crops among your gardening friends.

16. Range-fed animal products vs. factory-raised: Cattle feed lots and poultry farms are undesirable sources for animal products, for humane and health reasons. Chickens that run free and forage for themselves produce better quality eggs than chickens crowded together and fed antibiotics and hormones. Call your local County Extension, agricultural department at a nearby university, or USDA branch for possible suppliers. Check the farmers’ market or local whole foods store. Visit your supplier and ask to see the animals.

17. Whole Grains: Most of the grains should be in their whole form, such as brown rice, barley, millet, buckwheat, tritical, oat grouts, instead of white rice, pearled barley, etc. Refined breads should be the smallest portions of grains. Whole grain flours are much more nourishing. The preferred breads are made from sprouted whole grains. These should be the predominant forms of floured products besides whole-unprocessed spaghetti, macaroni, etc. All grains should soak for 12 hours or over night, (especially if you have any digestive problems,) then pour out the water and rinse with clean water before cooking. Since sprouted grains are much easier to digest you can continue the rinsing phase for 2-3 more times in the next day and they will start to sprout. When you cook grains they should be soft. If there is weakness of the digestive system, then they should be cooked until soupy. The whole grain is preferred over the flaked, rolled or floured grains such as Oatmeal, Couscous, Bulghar.

18. Vegetables should be cooked to some extent, (at least 25 to 75% of the time depending on the time of year and the person’s overall condition), i.e., soups, steamed, baked or stir-fried; preferably in water. The decrease in nourishment of some vegetables from cooking is more than made-up by their increased digestibility. Seaweed is a vegetable that most people don't eat or don't even know about, which is extremely nourishing and easily added to soup. If you have a juicer you can juice some vegetables two to four times a week. Green leafy vegetables are the most desirable and only organic vegetables should be used, and the fiber from them should be used in cooking because the fiber is one the most important aspects of vegetables.

19. Legumes should be soaked in water for 12 hours. Pour out the water and rinse with clean water and pour out. Rinse 2 more times within the next 12 hours or until they begin to sprout. This helps reduce the carbohydrate that produces most of the gas, because the bean utilizes it for its growth. Also the vitamin content of the bean increases in the sprouting process and the carbohydrates are broken down into simpler carbohydrates that are easier to assimilate. The soaking water should be discarded one to two times in the soaking process (preferably to water your plants) and fresh water added. Before cooking, discard the final soaking water and cook until soft. This will also increase the digestibility and decrease the amount of starch that causes gas.

20. Herbs and spices that assist digestion of beans:
Coriander, Cumin, Ginger -- Lentil, Mung, Black, Azuki

Clams, Oysters and Mussels should always be purchased live.

DID YOU KNOW that many markets sell fish that has been dipped in a solution of chlorine and water to retard spoilage?

23. Fats as a whole should be uncooked polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats (preferred). There are two Essential Fatty Acids, grouped as Omega 3: Sources: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): cold water fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines); cod liver oil (caution: can develop vitamin A toxicity if using a product with vitamin A). Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA/LNA): flaxseed (linseed) oil, soy oil, and chloroplasts. Omega 6 linoleic acid (LA); Sources: vegetable, nut and seed oils: corn, safflower, soy, canola, sunflower. Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA): breast milk, evening primrose oil (EPO), black currant oil, and borage oil: these are very important to get in your diet especially for infants and young children for brain and nervous system development. Olive and Corn oil are probably the best cooking oils!

WARNING! Oil pesticides, which are very fat-soluble, tend to be concentrated in oil products. Therefore, it is a good idea to buy organic oils whenever possible.

Oils especially high in pesticide residue are soy, corn, cottonseed, and canola. Store oils in the refrigerator, tightly capped away from light. Buy oils in small quantities and use before they become rancid.

All unsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated are subject to oxidation and rancidity, (monounsaturated less so.) Protect your oils from air, light and heat. Look for oil that is organic and cold pressed, not cold processed or solvent extracted. Ideally, the oil should be in an opaque bottle. Buy smaller quantities, amounts you can use, before they become rancid. Keep your oils in the refrigerator. Avoid frying at high heats. Use water with oil while sautéing to keep temperature (and calories) down. In small quantities butter is superior to margarine, which is an artificially hydrogenated product with trans-fatty acids.

24. Nuts & Seeds: It is preferred to buy nuts and seeds in the shell if possible and store in cool dark place. When shelled, store in a glass jar in a cool/cold dark place. You could also lightly roast them to improve digestion and storage.

25. Water. Filtered water is superior to tap water. Investigate the various water filtration devices and choose one that makes the most sense for your household. To extend the life of your filter, let tap run a few minutes in the morning or whenever water has been sitting in the pipes a long time before turning on the filter. Collect the run off water for plant watering and dish washing.

26. One's diet should follow the seasons, eating what grows locally. Nature has the perfect plan in providing the appropriate foods for the given season. The fruits and vegetables that ripen in the summertime tend to be on the cooling side, because their growth period occurs during the cooler months. In wintertime we will tend towards a warming diet.

27. Glass, stainless steel, or earthenware is the best utensils for cooking. Aluminum and copper are the worst because these metals can easily leach into the food.

28. Miscellaneous Foods: Apple Cider vinegar, Anise, Arrowroot, Basil, Carob, Cinnamon, Fennel, Ginger, Honey, Kuzu, Lecithin, Miso, Molasses, Olive, Rice vinegar, Tofu, White fungus, Salt, WATER.

29. If you do drink coffee (not recommended), buy the best quality organic bean you can find. If you drink decaffeinated, opt for water processed over solvent extracted which may have leftover organic solvent residue. Consider the country of origin of the bean. Examine the method of brewing as well. French press is better than paper cone filters, and paper filters better than automatic coffee makers or percolators.

FOOD COMBINATIONS

Below is a strict representation of food combining which is usually not needed for everyone and will be modified for each individual.

Eat protein foods first because they require alot of stomach acid to digest properly. Any starches eaten first will tend to reduce the amount of stomach acid and thus the digestibility of protein. Examples of protein are all animal products, legumes and their products (tempeh, tofu, miso), nuts, and seeds.

Green and not-starchy vegetables combine well with all proteins, fats, and starches.

PROTEINS: Legumes (dried beans, lentils, peas), and their sprouts, seeds, tofu, tempeh, miso, soy sauce; all meats, fish, eggs combine best with green and non-starchy vegetables. An exception is that high-fat proteins also combine with acid fruit. Protein foods are best eaten before starches and fats. At most, eat two proteins per meal.

HIGH-FAT PROTEINS: Nuts, oil-bearing seeds (flax, sesame, etc.), dairy products. Follows the above rules.

FATS & OILS: Avocado, butter, cream, olives, sour cream, oils (olive, sesame, flax, ghee, etc.),

Combine best with green and non-starchy vegetables, starches, and acid fruit. Eat in small amounts.

STARCHES: All whole grains and their sprouts, including bread, pasta, and sprouted grain flours, beet, carrot, pumpkin, parsnip, potato, sweet potato, winter squash.

Combine best with green and non-starchy vegetables, and are best eaten after protein foods. At most two starches per meal.

LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES: Bokchoy, cabbage, chard, beet, collard and mustard greens, kale, lettuce, parsley, spinach, turnip, watercress, sprouts of alfalfa, cabbage, radish, and mustard seeds; seaweed and micro-algae (spirulina, chlorella, Klamath wild blue-green), wheat and barley grass

Combine with all other foods and three acid fruits (lemon, lime, and tomato).

NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES: Cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, turnip, radish, onion, green bean, sweet corn, sweet pea, zucchini, leek, garlic, eggplant, bell pepper, mushroom, asparagus, summer squash, okra. Combine with all other foods. Underlined foods are mildly starchy.

FRUIT

SWEET: Banana, date, fresh fig, persimmon, raisin, and all dried fruit.

Preferably eaten alone, although can be eaten at end of meal, ideally preceded by a green of lettuce and celery.

Fruit combines with other fruit except sweet and acid fruits do not mix. Melons are best eaten alone. Combine only two or three fruits at once.

SUBACID: Apple, apricot, berries, cherry, grape, mango, nectarine, papaya, peach, pear, plum..

ACID: Currant, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, pomegranate, sour apple, strawberry, tomato.

MELONS: Cantaloupe, casaba, crenshaw, honeydew, and watermelon.

CONCENTRATED SWEETENERS: Honey, maple syrup, rice syrup, barley molt, amasake, dried unrefined cane juice, fruit syrups and juices, and the herbs stevia and licorice.



Infant and Child

Infants and Children should be fed very differently than a Teen or Adult, yet similar to an Elderly person.

If at all possible an infant should be breast fed for the first 6 months. There is NOTHING that compares to breast milk! This will save you and your child much grief in the long hall.

Why? Because breast milk is specific for human babies and breast-fed infants as a rule are healthier and thus get sick less often than formula fed infants.

I see this all the time in my practice day after day, and if they are put on antibiotics to often the cycle of colds and ear infections can continue for many months and sometimes years. This ultimately damages the “digestive system” and can create "allergies" and chronic respiratory infections year after year. This can also occur from excess or incorrectly prescribed herbs over a long period of time, which eventually damages the “spleen qi” and promote the production of excessive mucus/phlegm in the respiratory system while decreasing their production of “postnatal Qi”.

Infants are immature energetically, especially the digestive system (spleen system), they tend to have excess yang qi and run on the hot side. Because of this they tend to have: a) heat disorders such as fevers, rashes and dry coughs, b) excess mucus/phlegm disorders such as sinus, lung and ear infections, c) combinations of the above such as a cold with thick green mucus, and a fever with a rash that comes and goes.

From 6 to 12 months you can use a mixture of organic soy and rice milk (again breast milk is the best even if it’s in conjunction with bottle feedings) and start feeding them solids consisting of rice porridge or gruel, with the addition of 1 or 2 vegetables at a time. When you introduce the vegetables give it to them for a few days to see if they have a reaction or not.

Why porridge? Because infants don't chew their food so it should be "chewed" for them in a cooking their food soft. This is done with low heat, not quickly done on high heat, which destroys more of the nutrients in the food.

Once breast or formula feeding stops the young child's diet should containing easy to digest, warming foods such as cooked vegetables, well-cooked grain (rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, etc), with small amounts of animal protein such as fish, poultry, beef and their broths. Beans can also be used to make a complete protein and should be soaked for at least 12 hours and cooked till very soft, again with low heat over a longer period of time. Young children should not be fed to much food at one time and not allowed to graze all day long. There should be a schedule or set time for eating and in the most peaceful environment at possible.

Wheat, corn and most dairy products (especially cows milk) tend to create mucus and phlegm. Fruits, raw foods and cold drinks from the refrigerator are too cooling for their young digestive fire. Serve foods warm or at room temperature, this included beverages (mostly water).

When they leave this Infant/Toddler stage and become “Children” their eating styles start to change.

The selection of foods should be gradually expanded to as many different vegetable, fruits grains, beans, fish, and poultry, as possible. The greater the exposure the better because many children have periods of time that they tend to reduce their selection of foods, sometimes to a single favorite food if they don’t have this initial exposure to many foods. A lot of this depends on the parent. If they eat a restricted diet and don’t try different foods in front of their child with a positive outcome the child will usually be more restrictive then they are and this creates great frustration for the parent (s) and sub-nourishment for the child’s growth and development both mental and physical. The child will tent to be more moody, get frustrated easily, poor appetite for good foods, tend to crave starches and sugars, hyper, especially in the evening and poor quality sleep (they are hard to get up and grumpy). They tend to get sick more often or don’t get completely well for weeks or more after a cold or flu, which should only last from 3 to 10 days on average. Their recuperative powers have decreased and their school and social activities suffer and they become harder to get along with, especially with people that are close to them because they can let their true self be expressed more easily than with other people. And when they get really tiered their ability to cope with others and the environment around them decreases even more, all the while you could think that “nothing is wrong they have no reason for this kind of behavior”, when if reality they are run down and coping the best they can with the limited energy they have. They don’t have to get “sick” to be sick. Just like when we don’t get enough sleep or miss a meal, have a bad day at home or the office when nothing goes right. These things drain our energy and we are aware of this yet the child is not!

I have had many parents bring their child in saying “the doctor can find nothing wrong” yet upon examination and testing I find them completely drained and running on what we call “false energy”. This tends to manifest as the hyper child with great spurts of energy, especially at night, hard to fall asleep or restless sleep, hard to get out of bed, grumpy and irritable, don’t have a good appetite yet once they get going and playing with friends etc they look OK. These are all “sighs” that “something” is wrong

Children need to explore and be encouraged to be as creative as possible during this phase of their life and yet have firm guidelines to follow, such as eating good nourishing foods, sleeping at regular times and getting enough sleep, teaching respect and politeness to others and respect for the world they live in and the reasonability they have to this world we live in, and that giving is the complement to receiving. We need to be as unbiased as possible during this time of their life because they need to develop open mindedness and a healthy expressiveness before society or others suppress it.

Adolescents/Teens

This is a rapid growth and maturation phase (physical/mental/emotional) of your life and you need more high quality food than any other time. The problem is most adolescents/teens aren’t educated on the importance of the nourishment from foods and drink, so they tend to eat fast food and other refined or processed foods instead of taking the time out of their usually busy and sometimes hectic life to get the nourishing foods their body/minds need. We tend to have great desires that lead us in many directions of which we cannot possibly achieve. I say “we” and "us” because this can actually get worse as you become an adult.

At this stage of your life what your peers think of you can have a greater influence on what you do and how you act then what you actually know is right or wrong inside or what your parents or adults have hopefully taught you. So you tend to follow your peers examples, which in many cases is very destructive to your health, instead of attempting to educate yourself and use your own inborn common sense. You can see this in many adults as they carry these insecurities throughout adulthood.

This peer pressure influence affects some of you more than other but it is a dominant factor in this stage of your life

Even if your parents attempt to educate you and “nag” you to death about your eating and lifestyle habits it may not be enough to sway your opinion when many of your peers are doing the opposite. This is a society problem from lack of parental education and communication as a whole, which puts you in the middle making it even harder to do what is right when so many others are doing it wrong. I can only encourage you to know that you are an individual who is responsible for your own actions even when there are strong influences that promote you to make incorrect choices, we all make mistakes, it is impossible not to, but it is possible to learn from these mistakes and make better choices in life that will not only affect us but the people around us..

This is the time of your life in which you become more independent by having more control of your life than your parents, this is a natural growth phase in your life and should be encouraged and guided by the adults in your life.

But with this new control of self-destiny comes more responsibility and adulthood. You will make many mistakes and hopefully learn from these mistakes and correct them along the way. Some mistake will be sever and sometimes life threatening but most will be mild to moderate in degree and these are the ones which influence our life quietly behind the scenes and we usually don’t realize their strong influence until much later in your life. In contrast the sever or life threatening mistakes may cause a equally severe change in your life at that particular time, with lasting affects which stay with us the rest of our lives. Some are what we call “good” and some are “bad”, we are extremely adaptable beings and given the right environment and human support we are capable of great things, but given the wrong environment and support we are also capable of horrible things, this is still to a large part determined by you and how you choose to respond to these “stimulus’s” throughout or lives.

This phase of your life is also when the kidney qi is very active, especially the kidney jing and kidney yang. This expresses itself in physical body changes, increased sexual attractions and desires, and your ability to be extremely active, even to the point of over activity or “self-abuse” yet you tend to recover quickly so you don't pay attention to the "negatives" because the "positives" feel so good. Along with this are emotional ups and downs to the degree you have not had before, easily irritated, acne or other skin reactions. If this newfound energy is not allowed to flow or the lack of a balanced lifestyle and diet does not nourish and support the kidney jing/yang these imbalances increase as time goes on. You should increase your green vegetables, complex carbohydrates and protein to help counter the desire for excessive refined carbohydrates and sugars which promote the stagnant heat tendencies (irritability, restlessness, skin disorders, etc), drink plenty of room temperature water, and stay away from rich, oily, sweet and spicy foods as much as possible, and get plenty of SLEEP.

The number of hours and your quality of sleep are extremely important. When you sleep you build new cells, replenish your energy that you used during the day and repair the damaged tissue that can occur with the active and excessive life style of this phase of life. Even if you sleep 12 hours but you tend to wake up with a heaviness throughout your body, heavy or unclear head, groggy, sleep (mucus) in your eyes, “mucus voice”, etc you did not get good quality sleep, yet on the other hand if you slept 8 hours and awoke feeling refreshed with a lightness feeling in the extremities, clearness in the mind and without the “mucus voice” you had good quality sleep and actually replenished you energy and promoted growth and regeneration at a higher rate than the other person.

What this all comes down to is what you do and who you will become later in life is slowly becoming more your responsibility than your parents yet with anything new you will need and hopefully accept their guidance along the way.

One real important part of this phase of life is that it will determine to a great degree your constitutional health in adulthood. If you abuse yourself at this time it will show up later in life because you will have used up a lot of you kidney jing or “essence”, you can think of this as your life energy reserves that you will use up through the rest of your life, when it is gone life will cease. The more you use it now whether knowingly or unknowingly, through poor diet, lifestyle, and lack of sleep the less you will have later in life and the greater chance of getting a debilitating or life threatening illness or diseases throughout your life.