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Cold drinks, chilli, seafood, coffee: the lists circulate widely. This guide explains how to find out which dietary advice actually belongs to your own herbal formula.

Hand-me-down food lists

Mention Chinese herbal medicine at a family dinner and someone will usually recall the foods they were told to skip: iced drinks, chilli, prawns, coffee, perhaps bananas. These lists move from household to household, but each began with one person and one prescription. Anyone selecting a herbal practitioner can reasonably expect food guidance to arrive with reasons attached, rather than as a rulebook to obey.

Herbal formulas from Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, are prepared for individual patients through the Lane Cove clinic; she will happily explain whether yours comes with any dietary suggestions, and why.

Details that help at a first herbal appointment

• Allergies and intolerances, including any confirmed by your doctor
• Typical meals, cultural cuisine, religious fasts or shift-work eating
• Trouble eating enough, or a diet that has narrowed over time
• Recommendations already received from a dietitian, GP or specialist

Sorting essential from optional

Whenever a food comes up, three short questions do most of the work. Is avoiding it necessary for this particular formula? Does the suggestion last only while the herbs are taken? Is it a customary preference within the tradition rather than a strict rule? The replies show how seriously to treat each item.

Cutting out a long list of foods with no stated reason can leave meals monotonous and may conflict with advice from other health professionals. Workable herbal guidance fits an ordinary week of school lunches, work functions and family meals.

Once the formula is under way

Tuck the directions inside the packaging and jot down when the next review falls. If your doctor adjusts a medicine, let Christine know. Wondering if a fresh symptom is connected to the herbs? Ask her, and leave the dose alone in the meantime.

For people still comparing practitioners, food advice is a revealing test of communication. A clinician who gives reasons, and who accepts that a birthday cake is part of family life, will probably explain the rest of a plan just as thoughtfully.