Archive for November, 2009

When Cold Feet Are Just Not The Nerves

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Many people, in particular women, suffer from “cold feet” and “cold hands” upon the arrival of winter.  Although it is not an illness, it could be quite bothering.  No matter how many clothes they wear, or how much hot fluid they drink, nothing seems really help.  What on earth causes that and how can it be fixed?

When Cold Feet Are Just Not The NervesAccording to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are two factors contribute to cold limbs.  The first one is having a weak “Yang Qi” [the energy being expended in order to create a manifest action] that is not capable of warming the whole body.  As our feet and hands locate at the farthest part of the body, a weak “Yang Qi” just won’t be able to create enough heat to reach these extremities.

Image by Ingorrr

For people who have this condition, they should pay attention to keeping warm, especially the legs and feet.  “If the lower part of the body is warm, the whole body feels warm,” TCM Practitioner said.  “Soak the feet in warm-to-hot water before bed usually makes a good night’s sleep so achievable.”

When Cold Feet Are Just Not The NervesIn order to boost the ability to withstand the cold, people can eat more foods in “hot” nature, such as beef, lamb, chicken, garlic, chili, and ginger.  “Also, to massage an acupoint—’Yongquan’ (where it is located at the center of the sole)—helps, too,” TCM Practitioner suggested.  “Use the thumb to massage this acupoint in quick motion 100 times every morning and night and the feet as well as hands should get warm immediately.”

Image by Artbandito

On the other hand, there are people who don’t suffer from a weak “Yang Qi;” instead, they have a poor circulation of blood and “Qi,” which causes a stagnation of “Yang Qi” that cannot pass through to the limbs.  Consequently, they have unusually cold feet and hands even though their body feels very warm, particularly after standing or sitting for some time.  For this people, they should do more exercises to boost the blood circulation.  Furthermore, they can eat more foods that facilitate the flow of blood and “Qi,” like hawthorn, citrus, etc.  “Last but not the least, don’t wear clothes that are too tight; they hinder you from having a smooth circulation of blood before you know it,” TCM Practitioner added.

Eat Sweet Potatoes On Thanksgiving, And Every Day

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For North Americans, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without Brussels sprouts, cranberries, and of course, sweet potatoes.  And for many Chinese, winter wouldn’t be called winter without snacking fresh baked sweet potatoes on the street.

Although we might only perceive sweet potato as a festive food or a seasonal snack, it deserves more of our attention and should be included in our regular diet.  In fact, eating sweet potatoes every day has been inferred as one of the reasons for the people living in Okinawa, Japan to have the longest average life expectancy in the world.

Eat Sweet Potatoes On Thanksgiving, And Every DayAccording to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), sweet potato is “neutral” in nature and has sweet taste.  It can tranquilize mind; preserve youthful skin; nourish spleen, stomach, kidneys; and relieve constipation; not to mention stave off hunger.

From western nutritional point of view, sweet potatoes contain vitamin B6 that can soothe mind as well as boost immunity.  While rich in linoleic acid and fiber, sweet potatoes not only mitigate constipation, but also eliminate the cholesterol inside blood vessel that help prevents arteriosclerosis and thrombosis.

“Unfortunately, since sweet potato also contains abundant of carbohydrate, which has been excluded from many people’s diets completely,” Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioner said. “But if you can take a deeper look at the content of sweet potato, you will realize that sweet potato actually can assist dieters keep in shape.”

Here’s why:  Sweet potato is highly nutritious.  It is rich in sugar, fat, protein, carbohydrate, starch, vitamin A and C, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, magnesium, and potassium.  Although its vitamin B1 and B2 content is six and three times higher than that of rice respectively, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of sweet potatoes produce only 99 calories, a one-third of rice does.  Furthermore, as sweet potato is an alkaline food, it can help decrease body fat versus acid foods lead to deposit of fat in our body as fat facilitates acidity reduction.

Once called “food for poor people” and “war food” for its inexpensiveness and full feeling in Chinese culture, sweet potato has won a new title—The healthiest vegetable (ranked by World Health Organization in 2008)—that it had deserved for long.

Look for a last-minute easy sweet potato recipe for this Thanksgiving?  Try this super natural one: Hot Sweet Potato Milk.  It has no sugar, butter, or cream cheese added; guarantee healthy yet yummy!

Image by Dave Lifson

Eat The Color Of The Season

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In the last article, Align Five-Element Diet With Your Body, we learned about Five-Element Vegetable Soup and its foundation: Chinese Five Elements.  In fact, one of the most important components of this soup is the colors of the particular vegetables being used—they are based on the individual color essence of the five elements, namely white, green, black, red, and yellow.

In this article, we will elaborate more on this concept and introduce what Five-Color Diet is and how it works.

Eat The Color Of The Season

According to the theory of Five Elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the colors of foods do correspond with our internal organs, i.e., green corresponds with liver, red with heart, yellow with spleen, white with lungs, and black with kidneys.  “If any of our body function is inferior, we can eat more food in particular color to strengthen that function,” TCM Practitioner says.

Not only internal organs, in TCM, seasons also associate with “Five Colors.”  Take winter as an example: Winter corresponds with kidneys (internal organ) as well as black (color).  That means to nourish kidneys is our priority throughout the winter season.  How?  To eat more foods in black color, such as black mushrooms, woodear, sea cucumber, seaweed, black sesame, and black rice.

“During cold weather, the principle of keeping in good health is to preserve ‘Yang Qi’ (the energy being expended in order to create a manifest action),” says TCM Practitioner.  “Since ‘Yang Qi’ is stored in our kidneys, to improve the functions of kidneys therefore stands to reason.”

In fact, a color-rich diet also is recognized by western nutritionists as having tremendous benefits to health and well being.  From nutritional point of view, foods in white color like daikon/radish, onion, and winter melon not only contain allicin that can help lower blood sugar, but also have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.  They also have high level of antioxidants which are able to fight against heart disease and cancer.  As for the green group like broccoli, lettuce, and spinach, they contain high level of phytochemicals and are a good source of calcium; iron; and vitamins A, C, and K.

Foods in red color, such as carrot, tomato, and strawberry have been known containing an antioxidant called lycopene that is capable of controlling high blood pressure, as well as preventing cancer.  While rich in beta carotene, vitamin A and C, the yellow group provides plentiful antioxidants that counteract free radicals.  Examples of yellow foods include corn, pineapple, and pumpkin.

While the idea of color-rich diet is relatively new to the western culture, the Chinese have been practicing it over 3,000 years.  After all, in TCM theory, attaining harmony with the nature is as crucial as reaching a balance within oneself.  And the best part is?  It is simple and everyone can practice it.

Here is the association between Seasons / Colors / Internal organs:

  • Spring / Green / Liver
  • Early summer / Red / Heart
  • Late summer / Yellow / Spleen
  • Fall / White / Lungs
  • Winter / Black / Kidneys

Image by abbyladybug

Align Five-Element Diet With Your Body

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Whether you are enthusiastic about or getting tired of dieting, there are always a few fad diets that appear every now and then.  While some vanish, some stick around.  In recent years, “Five-Element Diet” has been widespread in Asia’s cities like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.  Unlike most of the diets aim for weight loss purpose, this diet is for healthiness.

Five-Element Diet was invented by Dr. Tateishi Kazu, an expert in cytology in Japan.  He first suffered from cancer of the duodenum and spreading.  Although his stomach was removed, the cancer cells already had spread to his lungs.  To fight for his life, he researched, studied, and tested over 1,500 types of herbs and plants.  Finally, he discovered the right combination of ingredients and formulated a unique healing soup—Five-Element Vegetable Soup—with its own molecular powers.

Align Five-Element Diet With Your Body

In fact, this soup is based on the principle of Chinese Five Elements, the harmonizing balance of the forces “Yin” (the energy being accumulated, assimilated and stored for later use) and “Yang” (the energy being expended in order to create a manifest action), supplemented by the theory of acid and alkaline diet.  In short, balance is the key to health as opposed to the imbalance that leads to illnesses.

The theory of Five Elements has long existed in China.  It suggests that foods, seasons, human organs, and state of minds all connect with each other.  To elaborate, the Five Elements in our environment (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) correspond to different aspects of the natural world and the body.  For instance, wood corresponds to spring and wind in the natural world and to the liver, gall bladder, eyes, and tendons in the body.  And for foods, bitter taste corresponds to heart, sourness corresponds to livers, sweetness corresponds to stomach and spleen, saltiness corresponds to kidneys and bladder.  We need to adjust and balance their intake subject to our body conditions to retain healthy.

The specific vegetables that Dr. Kazu used are based on the individual color essence of the five elements: daikon/radish of white (metal), daikon/radish leaves of green (wood), dried black mushroom of black (water), carrot of red (fire), and burdock of yellow (earth), which also relate to the corresponding internal organs: lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, and spleen.

All in a natural form, these vegetables are rich in amino acids, calcium, chlorophyll, iron, and phosphorous.  After all, plants grow in an active and vibrant environment in a balanced soil, which make them an excellent source of health supplements and even natural remedies for diseases.

“From which, we shall appreciate that the gospel of health is not to keep ourselves off the nutrients from the nature,” Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioner said.

Some food examples of Five Element Diet are:

  • Foods in Metal group and pungent in taste:  Daikon/radish, ginger, etc.
  • Foods in Wood group and sour in taste:  Mature vinegar, vigna umbellata/rice bean, etc.
  • Foods in Water group and salty in taste:  Dried black mushroom, kelp, etc.
  • Foods in Fire group and bittersweet in taste:  Lotus seed, spinach, sweet potato, water chestnut, walnut, chestnut, pine nut, etc.

Image by 10ch

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