Erika Hunt Acupuncture & Naturopathy

03/07/2025

The most common acupuncture questions

11/12/2024

Great tips for this time of year ❄️

Winter is here, and in Chinese medicine, it’s the season to focus on nourishing the kidneys, which are the foundation of our vitality. This is a time to store energy and protect your reserves for the months ahead.

Eat warming foods like soups, stews, and root vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots. Black beans, walnuts, black sesame and seaweed are also excellent for strengthening kidney energy.

Stay warm by keeping your lower back and feet protected from the cold to preserve kidney vitality.

When it comes to exercise, be mindful of not overexerting yourself or sweating excessively. In Chinese medicine, sweat and blood come from the same source, meaning too much sweating can weaken your body. From a Western perspective, profuse sweating also depletes electrolytes. Aim for light exercise where you just break a sweat—enough to energize but not exhaust.

Lastly, embrace rest during this season of stillness and ensure you’re getting enough sleep to recharge.

Take care of yourself during winter, and let me know how you’re incorporating these tips into your daily life!

Wishing you warmth and health,
LuChin

16/11/2024

Today is World Acupuncture Day, November 16th. Join us in celebrating our proud profession around the world.

25/06/2024

The wonderful nettle

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a delicious, vitamin and nutrient-rich culinary herb, high in protein and great in abundance. Nettles are commonly foraged edibles due to their nutritional composition, their benefit to vegans seeking more protein and their similarity to spinach. Nettles can also be found most of the year, though are at their most palatable between April and early July.

These delicious little plants have been used for centuries for ailments as far-ranging as arthritis to urinary tract infections. Found in Europe, Asia, North America, and Northern to sub-Saharan Africa, nettles have found their way into almost everyone’s cookbook, from nettle pesto to nettle porridge.

In our latest blog, we’ll explore foraging nettles in more detail and look at the best ways to protect ourselves from their sting! https://loom.ly/MGADlxY

05/04/2024

Dandelions are back 🙂

11/01/2024

On 13 December 2023, the European Parliament (EP) approved in the Plenary the Report on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This comprehensive report, drafted by the parliament’s Public Health Subcommittee, emphasizes the importance of strong prevention strategies to address NCDs, underscoring th...

08/11/2023

18/10/2023

16/10/2023

The wonderful nettle
https://www.healthshots.com/healthy-eating/nutrition/7-health-benefits-of-nettle-tea-and-how-to-make-it/?fbclid=IwAR3Qs8vvWV41e_Exydl01rETIGi6t5BFljcBD2r_hEz6VuKtlggavQwAMkc

You will probably be surprised to know that stinging nettle is an excellent tea ingredient! What’s more, nettle tea also has multiple health benefits.

29/09/2023

How acupuncture works

16/08/2023

‘“People talk about psychedelics reshaping the nervous system. Acupuncture kind of does the same thing,” said Richard Harris, a professor and endowed chair of the University of California, Irvine Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.
His group conducted a series of analyses on acupuncture among chronic pain patients. They found that acupuncture — but not sham — changed brain activity in terms of activating the receptors that bind opioids, which help control pain in the body. Electroacupuncture, in which the needles are stimulated with minor electrical currents, also impacted how different areas of the brain were connected, essentially rewiring the brain’s pain network.’