In this Episode of the Original Medicine Podcast, MG McCullough shares a vulnerable and transformative story about her experience with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). She shares her experience with her mentor Anne Cecil Sturman, whose guidance opened the door to deeper learning and ultimately changed the course of her life and understanding of Classican Chinese Medicne
Initial TCM treatments didn’t help and symptoms worsened.
The shift in a more supportive environment for healing and study.
Doubts and limiting beliefs were major hurdles in learning.
Real experience didn’t match what TCM books claimed should happen.
How Mentorship and the right environment transformed MG’s Understanding of Chinese medicine
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, MG McCullough explores how acupuncture acts as a catalyst for transformation, not only in physical health but also in emotional and mental well-being. She explains that creating space in our lives allows for new perspectives, and that meaningful change often comes from embracing discomfort. By shifting emotions and thoughts, acupuncture can help unlock deeper physical healing and support holistic wellness.
How acupuncture supports both physical and emotional transformation.
Why creating space—mentally and in daily life—opens the door to new perspectives.
Growth often requires discomfort and intentional change.
Emotional and mental shifts directly influence physical health.
Addressing emotional channels can lead to unexpected physical improvements.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
This episode of The Original Medicine Podcast breaks down the misconception that digestive issues can be treated with a one-size-fits-all acupuncture approach. MG McCullough highlights how traditional medicine requires far more nuance, especially when it comes to diagnosis. Rather than relying on commonly used points like Spleen 3 or Stomach 36 as universal solutions, he explains the importance of pulse diagnosis and understanding the specific level at which the body is storing a problem. By looking deeper, practitioners can deliver treatments that actually address root causes and lead to more effective outcomes.
Digestive problems cannot be approached with oversimplified point prescriptions.
Pulse diagnosis provides essential information that surface-level assessments miss.
Using points like Spleen 3 and Stomach 36 automatically is overly reductive.
The body stores issues at different levels, and identifying those levels is critical.
Effective treatment requires a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of traditional medicine.
Simplified approaches often result in weak or ineffective outcomes.
Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of successful treatment.
Practitioners must avoid generalizations when working with complex digestive conditions.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
This episode of the Original Medicine Podcast explores migraines through the lens of Chinese medicine, reframing them not as random reactions to triggers but as signs of deeper depletion in the body. MG McCullough breaks down how diet, lifestyle, and emotional health influence migraine patterns and explains why focusing solely on avoiding triggers misses the bigger picture. Instead, the conversation emphasizes building internal resources, understanding energy dynamics, and viewing migraines as expressions of imbalance that can be supported and transformed through holistic practices.
How migraine triggers matter far less than the underlying causes driving vulnerability.
Chinese medicine offers a physiological and energetic framework for understanding migraines.
The eight extraordinary channels reflect early life patterns that continue to influence health.
How diet is fundamental to building internal resources and preventing depletion.
Stored or unprocessed emotions can significantly weaken the body’s capacity to handle stress.
Caffeine and alcohol commonly aggravate depletion and heighten migraine susceptibility.
Sleep quality, stress regulation, and overall lifestyle strongly impact migraine frequency.
Migraines can be understood as expressions of energy imbalance rather than isolated events.
Identifying triggers is helpful but insufficient without addressing root causes.
With proper support and resource-building, migraines can become far more manageable.
Themes:
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough explores the nature of inflammation. Is it the root cause of disease, or a response to deeper imbalances in the body?
Drawing from thousands of years of Chinese medicine wisdom, MG explains how
inflammation is a signal, not the problem itself. By addressing the root cause—whether emotional, dietary, or energetic—we can restore health, reduce chronic pain, and cultivate long-term wellbeing.
This episode is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand how Classical Chinese Medicine can transform chronic inflammation, migraines, or other pain conditions into true healing.
Key Takeaways
Inflammation is a response, not the root cause of disease.
Symptoms indicate depletion of vital resources (Jing, blood, fluids).
Emotional trauma and chronic stress create heat in the body, driving inflammation.
Avoid “inflamers” like coffee, alcohol, spicy foods, and processed ingredients.
Warm, cooked, balanced meals support digestion and restore energy.
Emotional regulation, journaling, Qi Gong, and meditation help shift the body’s energy.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough returns to one of her most popular topics — how “clean eating” might actually be harming us.
She explores why modern diet culture and even functional medicine trends often miss the mark when it comes to true healing — especially for those struggling with migraines, chronic pain, hormonal imbalance, and fatigue.
From a Classical Chinese Medicine perspective, MG explains how:
Grains, often villainized in modern nutrition, are essential for supporting the Spleen and Stomach — the body’s digestive “middle path.”
Restrictive diets and “wellness perfectionism” can lead to orthorexia, emotional depletion, and energetic stagnation.
Cold, raw foods like smoothies and salads — often seen as “healthy” — can actually weaken digestion and worsen heat conditions such as migraines, inflammation, and anxiety.
Healing requires becoming a new version of yourself, not just changing what’s on your plate.
Themes:
Orthorexia & control: Why many wellness habits stem from a need for safety, not health.
Digestive health = foundation: The Spleen & Stomach are central to how we transform food into energy.
Energetic nutrition: How cooked, warm, balanced meals tonify the body and calm the mind.
Becoming your next self: True healing is a transformation of body, mind, and spirit.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough sits down with Katherine Rohland to explore why fragmented modern medicine misses the mark and how Classical Chinese Medicine reconnects the body, mind, and spirit into one cohesive system of healing.
Together, they unpack how energy, emotion, and physical well-being are intertwined — and why true healing requires understanding your body as a complete ecosystem, not a collection of symptoms.
Themes:
Why modern health advice often makes you feel worse
How Classical Chinese Medicine views the mind and body as one
The energetic cost of cold plunges, “biohacks,” and other health trends
How certain diet fads (like veganism) can harm long-term vitality
The surprising link between digestion, fertility, and emotional safety
Why migraines, insomnia, and pain are signs your body’s energy is out of balance
The importance of warm, cooked food and how it supports your body’s healing
How shedding old habits and beliefs can help you become who you’re meant to be
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of the Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough invites you to question a common assumption in acupuncture: that needles are always required. She explores how, in the deep roots of classical Chinese medicine, healing was more about activating energy through intention and channels than simply inserting metal into skin. Dr. MG shareshow this approach can help those dealing with migraines, chronic pain, and depleted vitality. Whether you’re skeptical, curious, or ready to go deeper, this episode will broaden your view of what acupuncture and Chinese medicine can look like.
Themes:
The historical context: acupuncture’s origins before needles and how intention and channel activation played the lead role.
Why classical channel‐based medicine sees the whole system (body, mind, spirit) rather than isolated points.
What a “remote treatment” in this context actually is — how it works and who it benefits (e.g., people too unwell to travel, living far from a specialist).
Real-world case examples: from remote support for hyperemesis gravidarum to working with patients across continents for pain and migraines.
What to expect if you try one: setting, sensations (heat moving, heaviness, release), how diagnosis and treatment differ from an in-office session.
How this approach supports your healing when you’re living with migraines, pain, low energy or seeking deeper alignment via classical Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough dives into one of the most taboo — yet most vital — topics in health: digestion and bowel movements. From a Classical Chinese Medicine perspective, healthy digestion is foundational to wellness, vitality, and the prevention of pain and disease.
We discover how bowel movements reveal the state of your internal energy, the health of your spleen, stomach, and even your lungs — and how these organs work together to create balance or signal imbalance. She also discusses how grief, disconnection, and even early life experiences (like birth trauma) can manifest as digestive issues in adulthood.
We also learn about the importance of eating warm, cooked foods, the energetic nature of food, and how temperature impacts digestion, energy flow, and elimination. MG shares simple, actionable practices — like starting your day with warm water and eating a “wet breakfast” — to restore balance and improve bowel regularity.
Themes:
Why daily, formed bowel movements are key to optimal health
How Classical Chinese Medicine views digestion differently than modern acupuncture
The energetic and thermal nature of food and why it matters
How spleen, stomach, and lung imbalances affect digestion and elimination
The link between grief, disconnection, and bowel health
Simple lifestyle shifts to restore healthy digestion and energy flow
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough explores the transformative journey of perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause through the lens of Classical Chinese Medicine. With compassion and clarity, she breaks down what menopause really is, how our culture has failed to properly educate women about their own bodies, and how we can use the ancient principles of Yin and Yang to restore balance, vitality, and peace in this powerful stage of life.
We learn how the decline in estrogen — a Yin hormone — mirrors a depletion of vital resources (or mediumship) in the body, leading to symptoms like dryness, pain, fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia. Rather than viewing menopause as a loss, she invites listeners to see it as a sacred transition and a chance to realign with their body’s natural rhythms.
She also shares actionable ways to support Yin energy through nourishing foods, balanced emotional health, proper rest, and—when appropriate—Hormone Replacement Therapy.
Whether you’re in your 30s noticing early changes, deep in the transition, or supporting someone you love through it, this episode offers wisdom, warmth, and the reassurance that balance and healing are entirely possible.
Themes:
What perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause actually are
Why our education around women’s health is incomplete
How Chinese medicine interprets estrogen and Yin energy
The link between Yin depletion and symptoms like migraines, pain, or dryness
The role of diet and nourishment in Yin cultivation
Balancing Yin and Yang through food, emotion, and rest
How boundaries and emotional honesty protect your energy
The difference between HRT and hormonal imbalance in younger women
Why Chinese Medicine supports healing the root cause, not just the symptoms
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough explores a fascinating connection between tattoos, emotional experiences, and the Luo channels in Classical Chinese Medicine.
Far from being just body art, tattoos can actually reveal deep insights into how the body stores unprocessed emotions and experiences. MG explains how these “Luo channels” form when the body needs somewhere to hold unresolved emotional or energetic “pathology” — a natural and protective mechanism that keeps us functioning, until it starts to overflow.
Listeners will learn how these stored patterns can manifest physically as varicose veins, cysts, rashes, or even recurring skin irritation over tattooed areas — and how Classical Chinese Medicine uses precise bleeding techniques to release this stored energy, helping the body restore balance and vitality.
Dr. McCullough contrasts Classical Chinese Medicine’s intentional, gentle use of bleeding with the avoidance of blood in modern acupuncture, sharing why this ancient approach produces profound healing results for people suffering from migraines, chronic pain, and emotional stagnation.
Themes:
How the Luo channels store unresolved emotions and experiences
Why tattoos can point to areas of the body holding emotional or energetic stagnation
How Classical Chinese Medicine uses bleeding to safely release stored heat and pathology
The difference between Classical and modern acupuncture — and why results vary
Why “heat” in Chinese Medicine is often a sign of stagnation or deficiency, not “excess”
How emotional release relates to conditions like migraines, chronic pain, and rashes
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this conversation, MG McCullough unravels the deeper implications of Botox and cosmetic injectables through the lens of classical Chinese medicine. She invites us to consider how the interruption of natural disease progression may impact our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Drawing from ancient principles, she speaks to the nature of pathology, the cost of suppressing expression, and the cultural narratives that have made aging something to hide rather than honor. Through this exploration, listeners are encouraged to return to the body with reverence, to face time with courage, and to see beauty not as a fixed ideal—but as something that breathes, moves, and evolves.
Botox and injectables, though normalized in modern aesthetics, interrupt the body’s natural defenses and disrupt the wei qi—the body’s exterior protective field.
Chinese medicine teaches that disease moves through the body in stages; when we interfere with this process, we may trap pathology deeper within.
Emotions are not just mental events—they are embodied experiences. When we freeze the face, we may inadvertently freeze feeling.
Beauty, from a classical perspective, is a reflection of internal harmony—not surface perfection.
The overemphasis on youth reflects a cultural resistance to the inevitability of time, which in turn creates emotional and spiritual disharmony.
True healing is not cosmetic; it is an unfolding—a remembering of who we are beneath cultural projections.
Accepting aging is not resignation, but restoration—a return to a more natural way of being in the body and in the world.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough explores the powerful link between emotions and physical health through the lens of classical Chinese medicine. We cover everything from the harm of toxic positivity and the importance of feeling your emotions to how unprocessed emotions can lead to chronic illness. With practical tools like thought tracking and gratitude, MG shows that emotional awareness is a skill anyone can build to support overall well-being.
Themes:
Emotions impact physical health.
Toxic positivity can do more harm than good.
Tracking thoughts builds emotional awareness.
Gratitude helps shift negative patterns.
Chronic illness can stem from buried emotions.
Emotional intelligence is learned, not innate.
Culture shapes how we express feelings.
Lifestyle and emotions are deeply connected.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast we dive into somatic therapy and how Classical Chinese Medicine is OG Somatics. Instead of viewing the mind and body as separate, this conversation reveals how they are deeply interconnected—and how healing becomes more powerful when both are treated as one.
MG unpacks the difference between Classical Chinese Medicine sharing how the classical approach offers a more holistic and complete framework for understanding the body. From the role of energetic channels to the ways unprocessed emotions can live in the body, this episode shines a light on the wisdom behind practices like acupuncture and why so many people turn to it when other options fall short.
Themes:
Chinese medicine has been connecting body and emotions long before modern therapies.
Emotions that aren’t processed often get stored in the body.
Acupuncture helps unblock stagnant energy and restore flow.
A deep understanding of the channels is essential for effective treatment.
Many people find acupuncture after trying “everything else.”
True healing means addressing both symptoms and root causes, physical and emotional.
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
TITLE: You’re Not Giving Yourself Enough Time
SHOWNOTES:
In this episode of the Original Medicine Podcast, Dr.MG McCullough explores how daily habits, mindful awareness, and Classical Chinese Medicine principles come together to support long-term health, emotional balance, and personal empowerment.
From the power of warm cooked foods to the ripple effects of journaling and tracking thoughts, this conversation invites you to slow down, tune in, and reclaim your role as an active participant in your own healing journey. Small, consistent changes—rooted in ancient wisdom and modern awareness—can create profound shifts over time.
Whether you're a practitioner or simply someone seeking sustainable well-being, this episode offers tools to support a more conscious, independent, and intentional life.
THEMES:
00:00 – Welcome + Why Daily Habits Matter03:42 – Journaling, Tracking Thoughts & Becoming the Observer08:17 – Chinese Medicine on Digestion: Warm Foods & Simplicity13:10 – Nutrition as a Foundation for Physical and Emotional Health17:30 – The Compound Effect: Why Small Habits Add Up22:05 – Empowering the Patient: Becoming Independent in Your Healing Journey
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, Dr. MG McCullough opens up a vital conversation about the differences between physical therapy, dry needling, medical acupuncture, and true acupuncture as rooted in Classical Chinese Medicine.
You’ll learn why it’s not just about inserting needles—but about how, why, and with what understanding they are inserted. MG unpacks what makes acupuncture a complete diagnostic system, why training matters, and how the integrity of Chinese medicine is often misunderstood—or unintentionally diluted—when techniques are adopted without the full context of the medicine.
This is a must-listen if you’re passionate about preserving the depth of Chinese medicine while advocating for patient safety, respect for lineage, and truly informed healthcare choices.
Themes:
00:00 – Welcome + Why This Conversation Matters
02:12 – The Rise of Dry Needling: What's Missing?
05:48 – Defining Acupuncture as a Holistic Diagnostic System
10:05 – Training Matters: Medical Acupuncture vs. Classical Acupuncture
13:44 – The Dangers of Incomplete Training: Pneumothorax, Chronic Issues & More
18:30 – Why Patients Deserve the Full Medicine
22:00 – Closing Reflections + Resources
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
TITLE: How Clean Eating is Doing Us Dirty
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, MG McCullough takes a closer look at the unexpected downsides of today’s clean eating trends. While these habits are often seen as healthy, they can sometimes do more harm than good. Drawing from the wisdom of Classical Chinese medicine, MG unpacks how real health is all about balance—and how the body is built to heal when given the right support.
The conversation also dives into the extremes of veganism and the carnivore diet, pointing out the pitfalls of overly rigid food philosophies. Instead, MG makes the case for a more flexible, well-rounded approach to eating—one that nourishes both body and mind.
If you’ve ever felt confused by modern nutrition advice, this episode invites you to rethink what true wellness looks like and how to support your health in a more holistic, sustainable way.
00:00 – Introduction
00:29 – Chinese Medicine and Modern Diets
05:30 – Understanding Pathology and Divergent Channels
12:15 – From Joint Pain to Autoimmunity
12:38 – Understanding Joint Pain and Disease Progression
14:42 – The Importance of Nourishment in Healing
14:58 – The Shift in Dietary Perspectives
18:48 – Exploring Veganism and Its Limitations
20:55 – The Carnivore Diet: A Double-Edged Sword
23:51 – The Importance of Balance in Diet and Health
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
TITLE: You’ll Never Achieve Balance by Doing Extreme Things
SHOWNOTES:
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, MG McCullough takes a closer look at the hidden costs of modern health trends like cold plunging, fasting, and intense heat exposure (think saunas and hot workouts).
While these practices are marketed as tools for building resilience, MG offers a very different perspective—one rooted in the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine. He explains how extremes, no matter how trendy, can drain our yin energy, disrupt our natural balance, and leave us more inflamed, exhausted, and out of sync.
This episode is a powerful reminder that true health isn’t about chasing stress—it’s about restoring balance.
THEMES:
00:00 – Introduction
02:00 – The Cold Plunge Debate
11:57 – Understanding Yin and Yang in Health
18:01 – Metabolism and Fasting Insights
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
TITLE: What I Wish I Would Have Known About Migraines
If you’ve ever dealt with migraines—or love someone who does—you know they can completely hijack your life. In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, MG McCullough gets personal about the journey through migraines and how Classical Chinese Medicine has offered a different way to understand and treat them—not just patch the symptoms.
MG shares insights from clinical experience and lived experience, unpacking how tools like acupuncture, lifestyle shifts, and herbal wisdom can get to the root cause of migraine patterns. We also dive into why pharmaceuticals and supplements might only be scratching the surface, and how things like cannabis—while trendy—can actually make certain conditions worse over time by depleting vital yin energy.
This is a powerful conversation for anyone who's tired of chasing temporary relief and ready to start understanding what's really happening beneath the surface.
THEMES:
00:00 – Understanding Migraines Through Chinese Medicine
05:22 – The Role of Yin and Yang in Migraines
05:25 – Chronic Illness and the Deeper Message
07:40 – How Trauma Shows Up in the Body
10:37 – Classical vs. Modern Acupuncture
10:42 – How Acupuncture Treats Migraine Patterns
15:54 – Yin/Yang in Treatment Plans
21:17 – Why Reevaluation is Part of Real Healing
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough
TITLE: Everything You Know About Acupuncture Is a Lie
SHOWNOTES:
In this episode of The Original Medicine Podcast, MG takes us back to the roots of acupuncture, exploring what we’ve gained—and what we’ve lost—in the shift from classical chinese medicine to modern clinical practice.
We talk about the difference between primary and complement channels, and why understanding both is essential for true healing. This isn’t just about sticking needles into points—it’s about reading the body as a whole, honoring its story, and reconnecting with what acupuncture was really designed to do.
If you’re curious about how lifestyle, energetic balance, and modern life intersect with ancient wisdom, this conversation is for you. Whether you're a practitioner or just curious about Chinese medicine, you’ll walk away with a clearer sense of what it really means to heal in today’s world.
THEMES:
00:00 – Introduction 02:45 – History of Acupuncture 06:18 – Primary Channels Explained 09:44 – Complement Channels: The Backup Systems of the Body 13:10 – Why Modern Acupuncture Misses the Mark 16:35 – Reconnecting with Nature and the Body 20:40 – How Lifestyle Impacts Channel Flow
Let’s Connect!
🍃WEBSITE:www.drmgmccullough.com
🍃INSTAGRAM:@drmgmccullough