About

"Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it."

Welcome!  My name is Dr. Stephanie Bartolotti, DACM, AP.  I hold a doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, I'm a licensed Acupuncture Physician and Chinese herbalist, and the owner of New Direction Natural Medicine located in Altamonte Springs, Florida.  

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TCM Food as Medicine emerged out of the idea of combining my passions of Chinese medicine, food and nutrition.  Over the last 12 years of treating patients with acupuncture and herbal medicine, one common question I get from almost every patient is "what should I eat or not eat?"  Diet and nutrition can be very confusing, especially when we are confronted with so much conflicting information about what food or diet is healthy and what is not.

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The essence of Chinese medicine is to nourish life.  The ancient Chinese believed we are meant to live to be 100 years old as long as we have balance between proper diet and nutrition, rest, work, activity, and emotions.  Before there were pharmaceutical drugs, many cultures used food as medicine.  People ate for health and longevity, not simply out of habit or hunger.

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In this blog, I want to teach you how to eat for health and longevity, based on the principles of Chinese medicine.  I will share with you my recipes that are simple to make with ingredients that are easy to find, so even if you are a novice in the kitchen, you will succeed in making these delicious meals.