M.M. Van Benschoten O.M.D. and Associates

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Nutritionist and Herbalist  Of Los Angeles and Reseda Alan Sher



Alan Sher, L. Ac. is a licensed acupuncturist in the State of California.

I believe that health is a manifestation of balance, both within the body itself and between the body and the external environment. When the body is internally balanced and in harmony with the external environment, energy flows smoothly throughout to nourish all organs and tissues. By adjusting and stimulating the flow of energy through acupuncture, we stimulate the body's natural healing ability to maintain health and protect against disease.

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine complements conventional medicine. They are not substitutes for any conventional medical advice, medications or treatments. As a complement to conventional medicine, acupuncture can treat both acute and chronic problems such as insomnia, digestive and elimination problems, headaches, sleeping disorders, chronic pain, smoking and eating disorders, and much more. Acupuncture can help to reduce or eliminate the need for medications for many conditions including narcotics and other pain-relievers, but your family doctor must always be consulted in such instances.

Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at illnesses from a different perspective than conventional medicine. The basic tenet of Chinese Medicine is that we have a life force that energizes all the metabolic activity in our bodies, and this life forces (often referred to as "qi" is always moving and flowing. When qi flows unimpeded, we are healthy. When qi is blocked, we get pain and ultimately disease. The strategy of the Practitioner of Oriental Medicine is to find the areas of blocked energy, and help remove those blocks, which in turn helps the body return to its natural healthy state. In the hands of a well-trained practitioner, acupuncture has much broader applications beyond pain relief.

Utilizing Chinese herbs for health and wellbeing is an art and science that has been cultivated and improved upon for more than two thousand years. At both of my offices, my colleagues and I are working hard to continue this time honored tradition and are thus able to offer our patients the finest and most precise herbal formulations available.

When creating an herbal formula many factors are weighed and considered in order to arrive at the correct and most clinically effective combination of herbs. This includes performing a complete medical history using the extensive diagnostic techniques pertinent to Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as western diagnostic tools such as blood studies, urine and stool analysis, microbiologic and immunodiagnostic studies, x-ray and MRI's, as well as many others. By carefully analyzing all of this information and using the unique acupoint diagnostic technique developed over the past 25 years at the offices of M. M. Van Benschoten, I am able to develop a formula that addresses every aspect of a particular patient's needs.


Alan Sher is a licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.) in the state of California and holds a Master's degree from Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine (Summa Cum Laude). My ultimate goal as a practitioner is to make people happy and healthy.  I try to be as comprehensive as possible in my treatment plans, incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine from modern day masters and teachers with the most current medical research.  I began my study of diet, nutrition and healing with Macrobiotics in 1972 as well as a practice  of yoga and meditation, all of which I continue to this day.  I have been doing dietary consultations since 1978 and as a licensed practitioner I am in my tenth year as an associate at the offices of M.M. Van Benschoten in Reseda, California, one of the largest and busiest teaching and research clinics for Chinese Medicine in the United States.  I also maintain an office in my hometown of Thousand Oaks, California.



Nutritionist and Herbalist