Gaofang: Keep Your Body Strong This Winter
“If you get good Gaofang tonic in winter, you can kill a tiger in the spring.” TCM does a great job addressing winter health and treating seasonal illnesses, due to its focus on strengthening the body to live in harmony with nature. Common winter ailments like colds and coughing can be effectively treated with herbal decoctions and acupuncture. Today, we’ll share how an ancient Chinese tonic can improve your overall health...
Meet the Doctor: Viviane Li, TCM/ Acupuncturist
Viviane is an accomplished doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, specializing in acupuncture. Viviane has expertise in treating gynecological, internal and endocrine disorders with acupuncture. She develops effective healing strategies for patients with pain, stress, insomnia, dermatological, and digestive problems.
Conversations with Doris: How We Can All Benefit from Ancient Chinese Wisdom
The Best of Both Worlds: Bringing the Knowledge of TCM to Improving Health Today. The first Body & Soul location opened in 2004. So, how did an expat from Germany with a background in IT sales come to run one of the most successful healthcare organizations in Shanghai? How did Doris Rathgeber come to understand the Eastern approach to mind and body? And, what has she learned that might help...
A Surprising Source of Your Pain
Do you have scars from past surgeries? Whether a surgery done with a scalpel leaving a scar along the incision or a tiny hole from arthroscopic surgery, there’s more to a scar than meets the eye. Soft tissue is damaged (cut) in such cases, which forms adhesions (scar tissue). Though you may only see a small scar on the surface, the damage can affect layers of tissues beneath, including the fascia.
New School Year, New You: Achieving Your Goals
As the school year starts and many of us return from summer holidays, we start to think of plans for the time ahead. Some will be starting a new job, or coming to Shanghai for the first time. And, many of us will be ready to settle back into a routine and think about things we’d like to change or accomplish. This is the perfect time to set goals, whether...
Dermatological consultations with Dr. Guo
Dear Body & Soul patients, We would like to inform you that since Dr. Guo is no longer working with Yosemite Clinic in Pudong, we can offer extended clinic hours for dermatological consultations. Besides her presence in our Hongmei Road Clinic – Hongqiao on Thursdays, from 5 to 8pm, additional slots will be starting from the beginning of July. Please get in touch with our front desk staff so that we...
Living a Healthy Life in Shanghai
Recently, we shared some of the ways to create a healthy environment in Shanghai. Today, we’ll offer tips for personal health. We cover some of the main topics patients ask about and concerns that come up in our Shanghai Health and Wellness group. Is it possible to be healthy even when the environment around us isn’t always? Absolutely. The human body is strong and has powerful self-detoxing mechanisms. But, it needs...
HPV: Awareness, Prevention and Treatment
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. The American Social Health Association estimates that about 75–80% of sexually active Americans will be infected with HPV at some point in their lifetime. Over 170 types of HPV have been identified and many people have subclinical varieties (never show symptoms). Unfortunately, certain types of HPV are potentially cancer causing. Because this virus is so common and often asymptomatic, HPV has lead to...
Nutritional Science News: “Mediterranean Diet Strongly Tied to Reduced Alzheimer’s Pathology”
A November 20, 2018 article on Medscape.com from Deborah Brauser discusses strong evidence from a recent study in Australia linking the Mediterranean diet to reduced signs of Alzheimer’s disease development. The new research suggests that “adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDi) is linked to a reduction over time in Aβ-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation, a biomarker of cerebral Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology”. The lead author of the study, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, PhD, shared...
How the Modern Diet Isn’t Feeding Our Bodies (and What We Can Do About It)
To read Part 1 and understand how carbohydrates can influence your health, click here The Difference between “Good Carbs” and Refined Carbs Non-refined carbs include oat, millet, brown and red rice, spelt, buckwheat and any other whole grains that have not been refined, as well as fruits and vegetables and “old breads” (made of whole grains such as whole rye). These carbs bring in micronutrients and fiber, so the body is getting...