How to Stay Healthy in Winter

Just like how millions of cells make up one organism, human beings are the tiny cells that make up the universe.  We must abide by the changes of nature, instead of going against it; we must interact with the millions of organisms in the world, instead of solely paying attention to our own needs.  As long as we do this, borrowing upon the strength of nature to cure our diseases, we will naturally be healthy. 

In ancient times, living conditions were relatively poor compared to today’s; it was impossible to control the temperature of the environment, so the only way to avoid the effects of the cold was to rely on the energy of the sun, meanwhile reducing the body’s use of energy—this was done by going to sleep as soon as the sun set, and waking up as soon as the sun rose at dawn.  This kind of lifestyle habit, if put in the context of today’s society, would not be well accepted, because people must wake up early to go to work, then come home from work very late at night; then, they may watch T.V., or go online—and, depending on where you live, there may be an abundance of nighttime activities.  This is the popular lifestyle of today’s society, and no one wants, or feels the need, to change it.   

However, the lifestyle of those who lived in the ancient times is indeed the most precious lesson we can learn from them, because it was not only a convenience, it also preserved their health and led them on a path to longevity. 

Because in the winter, the sun sets early and rises late, we should also sleep early and rise late—this will help us “escape” the winter’s cold.  We must seek more exposure to the sun during the winter—this will help “dispel” the winter’s cold.  Also, we should stay in warm areas and avoid cold areas—this will “expel” the winter’s cold.  Lastly, we must not expose our skin to the cold—this will “resist” the cold.  The above four methods may be common sense, but they are key to helping us prevent sickness during the wintertime, according to “Emperor Huang’s Internal Medicine”. 

To prevent sickness during the wintertime is not that difficult, given our modern living conditions.  However, there are some additional methods that will help dispel the cold that may accidentally enter your body. 

There are many women who, in the wintertime, will dress warmly with layers on top, but only wear a thin dress on the bottom.  Although this may look immaculate and professional, it will also bring endless amounts of harm to one’s body.  An old Chinese proverb says: “Wind comes into the body through one’s neck; the cold comes into the body through one’s legs”.  Although the blood circulating through our body is always warm, many people have poor circulation in their legs because the heat in their legs is not being protected by clothing.  So in the wintertime, remember to keep your legs and feet warm by wearing warm socks, shoes and pants. 

Once winter comes, some people feel that their feet and legs are never warm, even when layering on thick blankets or wearing socks.  This is because of poor circulation, and can be easily remedied by doing the “Walking on Your Knees” exercise, or the “Standing on One Leg” exercise.  These two exercises were both described in earlier blog articles.  Another solution is to soak your feet in warm saltwater every night—this will not only improve circulation, but is also beneficial towards healing and preventing frostbite.  Also, it’s very good for circulation to take walks during the wintertime; you don’t necessarily have to walk very fast, just make sure not to shuffle, instead picking your foot up off the ground each time you take a step.  This is not only good for circulation, but also for the muscles in your legs, which are likely to stiffen in the cold winter weather.  Moreover, walking can help strengthen the functions of the liver and spleen. 

During the winter, it is also important to eat the right foods.  For those who easily get cold, foods and spices such as shrimp, ginger, garlic, pepper and curry are good because of their warm nature.   However, don’t eat too much meat—if you love to eat meat, remember to eat some hawthorn tablets to help with digestion.   Taking Liu Wei Di Huang teapills is also a good idea to balance out the body’s Yin and Yang. 

If you are a completely healthy person, but still want to reinforce your health during the winter, you should use moxa on the Guan Yuan point beneath the belly button, and on the Zu San Li point of the Stomach Meridian, once every day for 15 minutes each.  It is said that this is one of the secrets to longevity of many centenarians. 

An Interesting Herb Story - How Dodder (Bunny's seed) was found

Dodder (bunny's seed) is effective treating back pain, impotence, seminal emission, diarrhea, lumbago and insecure fetus. The following is the story how it was discovered.

A young man was hired by a farmer to look after his bunnies. Being a harsh task-master, the master warned the young man that the death of a bunny would cost him a quarter of his wages. This made the young man very nervous.

One day this young man accidently dropped a bamboo stick to a bunny and broke her spine. The bunny lay on the ground unable to move. The young man was afraid that his boss would find out, so he picked up the bunny form the ground and hid her in the field of soybean plants, where the poor bunny lay very still as if dying.

The farmer found out one bunny missing and demand the young man to find her. So the young man went to the field to bring the bunny back. To his surprise, the bunny was running around in the field. He chased after her for quite a while before finally catch her and put her back to the pen.

Then the young man intentionally broke another bunny’s back and brought her to the soybean field. A few days later, he found out that the bunny’s back had completely healed.

“How could this have happened?” he asked his father, who suffered from backache and had laid in bed for years.

“Maybe it’s the soybean plants?” mused the father.

The next day, the young man deliberately broke the back of another bunny and brought her to the field. But this time, he watched closely what the bunny ate. He found that the bunny was not eating the soybean plant at all, but rather the seed of s parasitic plant living on them. A few days later, the bunny recovered from her back injury.

The young man started to pick the seeds of this parasitic plant and decocted them for his father to drink; soon afterwards, his father’s backache was cured. The herb has been known as “Bunny’s seed” ever since.

Autumn is the Perfect Time to Care for Your Lungs

Did you know? Autumn is the time of year when the lungs are the most active, when they are in the most optimal condition.  We can take advantage of this time to nurture our lungs, to give them any necessary attention and care.  According to Chinese medicine, the lungs have two primary functions: one is to “release”, the other is to “reduce”, or to pass through.  The releasing function is expressed in ways such as sweating, coughing, and sneezing. The reducing function is expressed in two ways: one is opening the water passage within the body through the Pang Guang Meridian; the other is opening up the digestive organs and allowing waste to pass through.  However, the reducing function can only be seen and analyzed during sickness; in other words, when the lungs’ reducing function is normal and healthy, its effects can’t easily be observed—only when it is abnormal can you see any symptoms. 

Sometimes, the cause of constipation isn’t the hard, dry nature of the stool; rather, it is often because the stool is unable to make its way out.  Many people also find that they do not urinate as often as they should.  These conditions are both caused by and directly related to an abnormal reducing function. 

So where exactly does the energy of the reducing and releasing functions come from?  This energy originates in the spleens and lungs, and is the central source of energy in our body.  This is why many Chinese medicines focus on replenishing this source of energy.  One example is the Shen Ling Bai Shu teapills—this herbal medicine not only reinforces the spleen but also replenishes the lungs and restores balance in the body, so it is the perfect remedy for a weak central energy source.  Another example is the Bu Zhong Yi Qi teapills. Its name means “Restore and Increase the Vital Central Energy”, and the medicine does exactly that.  However, the Bu Zhong Yi Qi teapills work by using the energy of the liver and kidney organs in order to restore the energy of the central source (the spleen and lungs), so this medicine is not suitable for those with a weak liver and kidney function. 

On the Lung Meridian, there is a point called Zhong Fu, meaning “central residence” because this is where the central energy of the body comes together and resides.  Therefore, it is one of the key points in treating and restoring the body’s central energy.  Another key point is the Tai Yuan point; it is the point where the Lung Meridian originates, so it has enormous effects in restoring the body’s central energy.  Either using moxa or massaging out these two points will prove extremely beneficial in restoring the body’s energy balance, and meanwhile, taking care of the lungs. 

Many people don’t want to eat medicine or drink porridge for medicinal purposes, either because they dislike the practice or have difficulties preparing it.  So they wonder if there are any other good methods to maintain and replenish the lungs.  In actuality, if the lungs do not receive harm from the exterior, no sickness will arise—so how would we go about maintaining them?  The main source of exterior harm that our lungs receive is the cold; if the body is exposed to the cold for an extended period of time, it will come into the body through the pores and do damage to our lungs.  Therefore, preventing the cold from entering our bodies is the key to keeping our lungs healthy. 

The lungs do have one threat that comes from the body’s interior—it is the excessive heat of the liver, or liver inflammation.  In Chinese Medicine, we call this “Liver Fire”.  Although this excessive heat given off by the liver is very intense, it shouldn’t do too much damage to the lungs, as long as it is controlled in time.  The Yu Ji point is a point on the Lung Meridian that, when massaged, can heal coughs and lung inflammation caused by “Liver Fire”.   

Some people do not have enough Chi in their lungs, therefore their bodies do not retain heat well, and easily feel cold.  People with this condition often find that they have difficulty breathing, or don’t always take in enough oxygen; this is because the spleen does not absorb energy well.  Because the spleen is one of the centers of our body's energy, we must treat this condition starting with the spleen.  To strengthen the spleen, you can use moxa on the Ming Men point, the Shen Yu point located near the waist, the Yuan Guan point located beneath the belly button, and the Tai Xi point located on the Spleen Meridian.  By using moxa on this acupuncture points, you will give warmth to the meridians they are positioned on and open up the stagnant pathways.  If you persist in this method, you will find that it is the best way to treat a weak spleen and lungs during the fall season. 

Another common condition occurs in people who have excess liver fire, but their lungs are not weak either; these people easily get upset, but they stifle it instead of expressing their emotion.  Because of this, they often feel like there is a huge weight inside their chest, preventing them from breathing with ease.  If you have this condition, you can massage the Lung Meridian’s Chi Ze point.  Massaging this point daily can also relieve symptoms of conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, and enuresis (bed-wetting syndrome). 

The methods above can be used according to individual body types, conditions, and needs.  However, one method that can be applied to all conditions relating to the lungs’ releasing and reducing functions is the “Making-Yourself-Sneeze” method.  This method was introduced in a previous blog entry, and can relieve such conditions as allergies, cold, stagnant or obstructed energy in the body, various skin diseases, and etc. 

Future blog: What Should You Do in Winter to Keep Yourself Fit

How to Treat Athlete's Foot

Athlete's foot, also called tinea pedis, is a fungal infection of the foot. The condition often develops between the toes and other areas of the foot. You know athlete’s foot can be really unpleasant, itching, redness, scaling, cracking... You may have tried Lamisil, Lotrimin, Terbinafine, Clotrimazole, etc. All these product works, but the fungus keeps coming back.

Now let me share a natural and easy way. Very simple, just soak your feet in vinegar - about one part vinegar and 2 or 3 parts water. The acidity of the vinegar makes it very hard for the fungus to survive. Also, a little Listerine foot soak will do much the same thing. Or you can even put a little Listerine in with your vinegar and water. Soak your feet once a week and you’ll find it very helpful.

My husband found this method in Reader’s Digest. He tried this and it’s very helpful for him. Hope it works for you too.

Now Bill Clinton is a vegan, is that healthful?

Bill Clinton’s hamburger days are behind him, he says. Former President Clinton now considers himself a vegan.

 In his interview with CNN’s Dr. Gupta, Bill Clinton says that now he consumes no meat, no dairy, no eggs, almost no oil. He's dropped more than 20 pounds, and he says he's healthier than ever. “All my blood tests are good, and my vital signs are good, and I feel good, and I also have, believe it or not, more energy," Clinton said.

Clinton adapted the plant-based eating pattern out of concern for his cardiovascular system — “to avoid any food that could damage his blood vessels,” CNN says

 To watch the interview, click the following link:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/18/bill.clinton.diet.vegan/index.html?iref=allsearch

In fact, many celebs are vegetarian. To name a few: Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Bush (Niece of President Bush), Josh Hartnett, Kristen Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire (the Spiderman),...

I didn’t know so many celebs are vegetarians until I started writing this blog today. By the way, my family of four is vegetarian family except that my daughter and I eat fish occasionally (maybe once in a month). My son was born and raised as a vegetarian. My husband has been a vegetarian since 1996. We’re all very healthy and seldom get sick.

Now the question is:  what should you eat to stay healthy if we want to be a vegetarian or a vegan?

Vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet, any healthy meal should be rich in all the following nutrients:

1. Vitamins
2. Protein
3. Calcium
4. Carbohydrates
5. Zinc
6. Iron
7. Omega-3

Okay, now let me tell you about the foods in which you could find the above nutrients

Calcium: Broccoli, dairy products, tofu, soy, fruit juice (especially orange juice)

Protein: Tofu, apart from being rich in calcium, is also full of protein. Besides tofu, lentils, peas, nuts, seeds, etc. are also rich in protein content

Iron: Once again I have to suggest the highly nutritious tofu here. Apart from that, iron is also available in plenty from rice, cashew nuts, tomato juice, etc.

Zinc: Tofu is here as well. Aren’t you surprised how a single food could be rich in so many different types of nutrients? Okay, apart from tofu, whole grains, especially the bran and germ of grains, are rich in zinc content.

Also, any vegetable available in the form of roots such as radishes, carrots, beets, etc., contains zinc. Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and cabbage leaves are rich in zinc as well. If you hate potatoes because of its carbohydrate content, note that it is rich in zinc too.

Vitamins: Vitamins are available in milk, soy, cereals, Tempeh, miso, etc.

Vitamin B12 is a tough one to find outside animal products, look for it in fortified products like plant milks. Some cereals, substitute meat products and a form of nutritional yeast are also fortified. Or, to make it simple, take Vitamin B12 supplements.

Carbohydrates: Do I even need to tell you where could you get carbohydrates from? They are already available in junk and sugary foods but…WAIT, since you may not want to have them, eat potatoes instead.

Finally, omega-3 fatty acids are typically found in fish, but they can also be gotten via walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds. There are also omega-3 supplements derived not from fish, but from algae.

Who says that a vegetarian diet cannot be as nutritious as a non-veg diet? As long as you eat a healthy and well-balanced meal, your body would definitely receive the right amount of nutrition. Moreover, being low on calorie, the vegetarian diet won’t make you fat; if anything, it would help you maintain a slim and flat stomach throughout your entire life. Ask those celebs and you’ll know for sure.

An Herbal Story – San Qi (Notoginseng Root)

     Today let me share a herbal story with you - San Qi (means 37 in Chinese) (Notoginseng root). It can help to stop bleeding; promote blood circulation, heal swelling and relieve pain.

     Long ago, there was a man named Zhang Xiao Er, who was dying due to some kind of hemorrhage disease (a copious blood discharge from the blood vessels). Anxious to save his son’s life, Zhang’s mother found a doctor named Tian, and the doctor prescribed an herb that eventually cured the disease. The doctor left the seed of the herb to Zhang before his departure, telling him to plant this seed just in case he should need it in the future.

      Zhang planted the seed as the doctor suggested, and the herb flourished just after one year. One day, when he heard that the governor’s daughter also suffered from hemorrhage, he dug out the herb and sent it to the governor, hoping to receive a reward in return. However, instead of recovering from the disease like Zhang expected, the condition of the governor’s daughter didn't improve and she died soon.

     The governor was furious and had his men arrested Zhang. After series of tortures, Zhang told the governor that Tian was the one giving him this "harmful" medicine. Therefore, believing that Tian was trying to make a fortune by providing useless and harmful medicine to patients, the governor also had Tian arrested. Tian explained that this herb did have miraculous curative effect for hemorrhage diseases, but it had to be grown for at least 3 to 7 years for the herb to be effective. Since the herb Zhang offered to the governor had only been grown for a year, it was unable to save the governor’s daughter because the herb had no medicinal value.

      In order to demonstrate the effect of the herb, Tian sliced his own thigh with a knife, and his thigh started to bleed immediately. He then grounded the herb into fine powder and took in a part of the powder, while the rest were applied onto the wound. Miraculously, the bleeding stopped instantly and the wound started to heal. After witnessing the sight, the governor believed Tian’s explanation and released him. In order to prevent any future misuses of the herb, Tian named the herb “three seven”, meaning that this herb had to be grown for 3 to 7 years before it can be used as a medicine.

The Top Three Panacea of Chinese Medicine

Many people have chronic illnesses with many symptoms; often, one feels pain from head to toe, almost as if there’s no painless spot on the body.  Although many of these chronic illnesses aren’t too serious, they drag on and never seem to go away.  At times, the symptoms may worsen, at other times they may disappear, causing the person much distress.  The solution is actually to cultivate and nurture blood within the body, as this will increase one’s chances of recovering from a chronic illness.

                So what is the easiest and fastest way to generate new blood in the body?  Chinese medicine says that the spleen and stomach are essential in the generation of red blood cells.  Therefore, if we want to have sufficient blood in the body, then we must regulate our spleen and stomach organs, making sure that they are running efficiently and are healthy.  Some people eat just a little bit of food, but become uncomfortably full or bloated, resulting in indigestion; others can’t easily absorb the food they eat, resulting in either diarrhea, constipation, an inability to produce sperm, excess production of phlegm, or a tendency to develop muscles easily.  These problems are all a result of the spleen and stomach organs not functioning properly.  Solving this problem starts with fixing the body’s physique, allowing for it to have the right conditions of a healthy spleen and stomach.  Medicine can’t be the first course of action because if there is difficulty digesting and absorbing even grains and vegetables, then there would be even more difficulty digesting and absorbing medicine. 

                Many people familiar with Chinese medicine have weak kidney systems, so they take medicine that helps replenish the kidneys.  But because these medicines are difficult to digest, often times they fail to replenish the kidneys, instead becoming a heavy burden on the spleen and stomach organs.  In this way, the medicine which is supposed to help the body actually becomes a poison to the body’s organs. 

                A lot of people also have excessive heat in their heart and liver organs, so they must take cool-natured medicines year-round to balance this.  But what they don’t know is that taking cool-natured medicines can damage the spleen and stomach the most, especially when the spleen and stomach is already weak.

                If there is one medicine on this planet that I recommend to you, in order to help solve your chronic health and blood deficiency problems, it would be a combination of Chinese yam, Job’s tears seeds, and Gorgon fruit.  This combination is highly effective, and is the most reliable Chinese medicine you can take. 

                For frail elderly people, very young children, and also people whose conditions are very severe, my frequent suggestion is to eat porridge made of those three ingredients: Chinese yam, Job’s tears and Gorgon fruit.  These ingredients may be a little bit hard to find at supermarkets, but if you look around at health food stores or herbal stores, or ask a local practitioner, you may be able to find it. 

                Many people ask, “Is it really effective to just eat porridge? Can it really promote the growth of red blood cells very quickly?” My answer to you is, if the porridge solution doesn’t work, then I’m afraid that nothing else will.  Although normal food produces energy and blood in the body, first we use the energy already present in the body to digest that food.  If the body can’t afford to use that bit of energy to digest the food, then our only solution is to use the three ingredients mentioned, because only they can directly provide us with energy and the source of blood.

                First let’s discuss the benefits of Chinese yam.  Chinese yam has a stable, sweet nature, and doesn’t cause inflammation or excess heat in the body when restoring the body’s energy.  A Chinese medicine book discusses the benefits of the Chinese yam: “….strengthens the kidneys, restores the stomach and spleen, dissolves phlegm and mucus, cures dysentery, and moisturizes the skin and hair.”  Other benefits of Chinese yam include relieving cough and clearing the lungs. For medicinal purposes, it is more common to use dried Chinese yam, although there is fresh Chinese yam available at oriental markets.  At herbal stores, there are usually two kinds of dried Chinese yam: cooked and raw.  It is better to use the raw herb form. 

                Now let’s talk about the Job’s tears seeds—if you’re body tends to have what Chinese medicine calls “dampness”, or a “wet” nature, (such as if you are easily prone to water retention, edema, eczema,), then the seeds of Job’s tears is the best solution for you.  Job’s tears helps the body get rid of excess water, delivering this dampness out of the body.  Job’s tears seed has a slightly cool nature; therefore, it’s not very suitable for people who have excessive coldness within their stomach and spleen, or for people whose four limbs become cold easily.  Some Chinese medicine doctors also says that pregnant women should also abstain from using Job’s tears, because it may affect not only the body’s general fluids, but also the amniotic fluids in the uterus.  Although side effects have not been observed to date, it’s better to stay on the safe side and avoid any risks during pregnancy.

                The main function of Job’s tears is to strengthen the spleen and dispel dampness.  Meanwhile strengthening the spleen, it can also replenish the lungs; meanwhile dispelling dampness, it can also dissolve mucus and phlegm. Job’s tears seed can also help alleviate excess heat in the lungs. When used alongside Chinese yam, it is all the more effective.  It is recommended to use 50 grams of each ingredient to make porridge, to be eaten daily.   The question is, why do we have to wait until we are sick to eat this? The porridge itself isn’t necessarily a medicine—it can also be considered as a supplement, a source of nutrition and prevention for getting sick in the first place.  The porridge doesn’t taste bad or like medicine at all.  So even if you are not chronically ill, or don’t have any of the above mentioned problems, I still invite you to try this porridge.  The medicine should not be bitter, sour or taste like medicine—if it does, then that means the quality of your ingredients are not great.  For porridge, it is better to use fresh Chinese yam.

 

                Finally, let me discuss the benefits of Gorgon fruit.  Some people have diarrhea for extended periods of time; others produce too much sperm and are unable to control its outward flow from body; still others urinate too frequently at night, and can’t sleep well because of this.  For these conditions, Gorgon fruit is the perfect remedy. Gorgon fruit also has other benefits, such as stopping pain in the knee and back, enhancing vision and hearing, and when eaten long term it has the ability to promote longevity.  Although it’s a quite common food, its benefits are unusual and highly sought after.   This fruit not only has the ability to stop excess production of sperm, but also helps in increasing sperm production if needed—in general, it can regulate sperm production.  Additionally, it cures inflammation from excess dampness in the stomach and spleen and replenishes the kidneys. 

                Chinese yam, seed of Job’s tears, and Gorgon fruit complement each other perfectly, all three having miraculous effects on the stomach and spleen. However, they all have different specialties.  Chinese yam, for instance, strengthens five organs: the stomach, spleen, kidney, lung, and the liver.  The seed of Job’s tears can clear the lungs, clear excess water from the lungs, help the stomach, and expel dampness. Gorgon fruit, on the other hand, besides strengthening the stomach and spleen, can also stop diarrhea and stop excess sperm production.  Many people grind the three medicines into powder (if you’re using dry ingredients) and then add water to make it into porridge, adding jujubes (red dates) to the mix.  This can help cure blood deficiency, which is benefiting to problems such as anemia. 

                Although these medicines have many benefits, like all other medicines it is not suitable for everyone.  If you have excess heat or inflammation in the liver, stagnant or slow moving blood flow, low amounts of saliva, these three ingredients aren’t recommended for you. Also, if you feel that you don’t urinate very often, if you get easily out of breath in the cold, or are easily prone to constipation when the weather is hot, then the medicine isn’t good for you either.  When you want to put clean water into a fountain, first you must get rid of the dirty, stagnant water.  Likewise, if you want to receive the benefits of this medicine, first you must rid your body of these problems and conditions.  Otherwise, the blood deficiency will not be cured easily.  More will come in later blogs for ways to treat these problems.