|
Spring Wellness and TCM
Traditional Chinese Medicine places great importance on the changing of the
seasons and believes that health and wellness is intrinsically linked to
following the seasons in matters of diet, exercise and personal health
practices. For example, one should be less active in the winter than in the
summer. Winter is a yin time of self-nourishment and rest where as summer
is a yang time of active energy.
Spring in TCM is related to growth, wood, the colour green and the organ the
liver. During this time there is a stirring of growth, budding of trees,
new leaves and twigs and a warming of the environment. We are moving from
cold winter yin to warm summer yang.
The liver plays an important role during this time of awakening. According
to TCM the liver is responsible for directing and organizing the flow of
energy in the body. If the liver is stressed (by anger, depression or any
excessive emotional states) it can not organize properly and may stagnate.
For women this is especially important as the liver is largely in control
of regulating the quality, quantity and flow of the menstrual cycle.
Stagnation can cause PMS, painful, irregular or scanty menstruation. These
symptoms can cause further emotional stress and develop in to a continual
loop of stress, stagnation, leading to more stress and more stagnation. TCM
can treat these symptoms with great success, breaking the cycle of illness
and offer a more balanced state of mind and body throughout the month. If
you¡¯re feeling stressed, check in for some acupuncture, herbs and/or diet
therapy to rebalance your body.
Liver qi stagnation and disharmony can cause heat and lead the liver to
redirect our energy to flow in the wrong direction. This is referred to
counter-flow of qi in TCM and is responsible for many internal imbalances
which can cause illness. A classic example is too much anger, or excessive
emotion too often can cause the body energy to rush to the head and combined
with heat may result in headaches, chronic migraines, high blood pressure
and eventually stroke. The liver may also attack the Spleen and Stomach
resulting in a vast array of digestive problems. These can include
constipation or alternating constipation and diarrhoea, and abdominal pain
and discomfort.
The liver is the organ that stores the blood and by directing the qi flow it
also directs the flow of blood in the body. The classic texts say that ¡°qi
moves the blood and blood caries the qi? When the liver blood is
undernourished (though improper diet and lack of exercise for example) it
effects the ability of the liver to move the blood and nourish the other
organs of the body. Deficient liver blood can lead to dryness, brittle and
inflexible tendons, sinews and joints and other symptoms such as fatigue,
dry eyes/blurred vision and scanty or absent periods.
Foods for Spring
As green is the colour of spring (and the liver) green foods such as leafy
green vegetables are ideal for this time of year. Peas, broccoli, spinach,
and others are excellent for the liver and for the new energies of spring.
Make sure you steam your vegetables as they can have a cool or cold energy
which may not be suitable for early spring if eaten raw. Steamed vegetables
are also easier on your digestion. Keep your diet low in fats and avoid too
much spicy food and alcohol especially if you have a tendency for migraines,
one-sided headaches or high blood pressure.
Support your spleen (to ward off liver attacks) if you have digestive
symptoms by eating yellow/orange foods like squash, and carrots and avoiding
cold drinks and raw foods.
Exercise
Embody the spirit of new energy by getting out for walks in the fresh air.
This will also help prevent qi stagnation and ward of the sluggishness of
the winter.
Colds and Hay Fever
Spring is also a time of movement. We see a great deal of wind which can
invade the body, especially if we are deficient or lacking from the winter.
This may lead to head colds or flu which are often referred to as Wind-Cold
attacks in TCM. If you have runny nose, cough, aches or a general feeling
of cold, protect yourself from the wind by adding a scarf or hat and try
drinking some ginger tea. If you feel hot and have yellow mucous or
discharge avoid ginger and spices and try mint instead. Green onions are
also an excellent way to drive out the wind.
Spring with its new growth also gives rise to a great deal of pollen
production in the rush for fertility. For those who suffer from hay fever
with sore itchy eyes, runny noses and difficulty sleeping, TCM can offer
quick, soothing relief though herbal formulas and acupuncture. If you
suffer from spring time allergies year after year why not give TCM a try?
You¡¯ll be surprised how well TCM can balance your body and restore health
and wellness. Ask your TCM practitioner about food cures which can align
your body with the season and compliment your treatments. We don't always
take medicine but we eat all the time!
Winter Yang Sheng
Winter is the coldest season in the year when yin qi dominates
and yang qi is in hibernation. During this time the yang qi in
the human body reflects the yang qi in nature, conceiling it self
quietly inside. As a result the metabolism is slows down (as compared
to the summer when the yang qi is active). It is important at
this time to avoid cold and keep warm to preserve yang and yin.
Daily Life
Protect and nourish your body with simple knowledge that can be
applied to everyday life: In the winter, going to bed early nourishes
yang qi as it helps the yang to descend and conceal itself within
the body. Getting up late protects the yin and essence by allowing
them to accumulate and thus maintaining the balance of yin and
yang in the body.
Do not begin working until the sun rises and avoid cold environments
to prevent external cold from harming the yang and causing illness.
It is particularly important to maintain a proper room temperature.
Too cold a room may impair yang qi and promote susceptibility
to the common cold while, too hot a room opens the pores bringing
the yang qi to the surface. This hinders yang¡¯s winter hibernation
as well as allowing pathogenic cold to easily invade the body
which, can give rise to various illnesses.
Wear layers of clothing so that you can put on and remove clothing
as the temperature changes. Excessively thin clothing can easily
impair the yang making people susceptible to the common cold or
numbness and pain of the waist and legs. Excessively thick clothing
may stir the yang qi causing sweating and open the pores to attacks
of wind and cold.
The Kidney
Winter is the season that corresponds to the kidney in Chinese
Medicine. The kidney is responsible for the storage of essence
and is the congenital base of life. Is is associated with fear
and excessive or sudden fear may impair the kidney causing pathological
changes. In the winter, the time of hibernation, people should
stabilize their emotions and cultivate their mind to avoid excessive
emotional activities as such excesses can impair the hibernating
state of the yang qi.
¡°Only when the mind is tranquil can the yang qi inside the body
be hidden, yin and essence accumulated.?p236 Life Cultivation
and Rehabilitation of TCM, Zhu Zhongbao trans.
Tonics
Winter is an important time to tonify the body as it is believed
that winter is the season in which nutrients are most easily accumulated.
Nutrients are most easily stored in the body to nourish the viscera,
limbs and bones at this time. There are two types of tonification
in the winter: the diet and herbs.
Yang Deficiency:
People with yang deficiency should eat sweet, warm natured food
like shrimp, chicken and beef. Kidney organ meat also nourishes
Kidney. Herbs such as ginger (ganjian), cinnamon bark (rougui)
and cloves (dingxiang) warm the interior.
Yin Deficiency:
People with yin deficiency should eat cool-natured or sweet foods
such as rabbit meat and turtle, Wolfberry fruit (gouqi) or congees
with herbs such as Glehnia root (shashen), Lily Bulbs (baihe)
and black sesame seeds (heizhima).
Qi and Yin Deficiency:
Those with qi and yin deficiency should eat duck and other fowl
and herbs such as Ginseng (renshen), Astragalus root (huangqi)
and licorice root (gan cao).
Tonification with Chinese herbs should always be done under
the guidance of a TCM Doctor, Practitioner or Herbalist to ensure
a proper diagnosis and prevent harm to the body. For example:
if a person with yin deficiency tonifies their yang qi their condition
may worsen. Consult our clinic for inexpensive winter tonics and
congee recipes to assist in balancing the particular needs of
your body.
Exercise
Exercise remains important in the winter. Qigong, and various
forms of dance, yoga and body movement are ideal. Massage can
also help strengthen the health (consult our clinic for student
or profession Chinese Massage)! Outdoor activities such as skating,
skiing and running are also advisable however, avoid exercising
in strong wind, bitter cold, heavy snow, fog and dew. Violating
this principle may impair the kidney qi and when spring comes
may result in weakness or illness.
Wellness and Aging
As the body ages there is a general decline in the body's energy
so that we are less resistant to illness and have greater difficulty
recovering after illnesses. In TCM, practitioners focus heavily
on prevention for this reason, working on strengthening the body,
maintaining inner harmony and balance for optimum health and longevity.
Diet therapy plays an important role in preventative medicine.
TCM attributes certain properties to food, just as it does to
herbs and medicine. Food can be hot, cold or neutral (not in relation
to temperature) and of the five flavours (bitter, sour, sweet,
pungent and salty). Intake of too much of one category of food
can cause injury to the body.
The classic TCM text Nei Jing states: "over eating the wrong
food will damage Zheng Qi"
As a person begins to show signs of aging, chronic conditions
they have dealt with their whole live begin to worsen. Yang begins
to decline and yin and yang disharmony occurs more easily. TCM
indicates that the individual should change their diet according
to their specific symptoms/syndromes and yin or yang indications.
This tends to follow by common sense (if feelings of heat or fever
are present, avoid hot, spicy foods and eat more cold and cooling
foods). To better understand your personal condition consult with
a TCM Practitioner or Dr. of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Cold Conditions
Generally, a person experiencing a cold condition should eat foods
that are warm in flavour (and temperature) and avoid cold and
raw foods which will aggravate their symptoms. Sold signs may
include cold hands and feet, aching in the back and knees, abdominal
cold pain or discomfort. Here are some foods that are considered
hot and warming in nature:
hot: beef, nutmeg, mustard, peppers, ginger, curry, black pepper.
warm: coffee, chicken, cuttlefish, garlic, green onion, guava,
organ meats, rosemary, seeds and nuts, wine.
Hot Conditions
If experiencing sensations of heat a person should eat cool or
neutral foods. Examples of heat signs may include: red face or
eyes, fever, haemorrhoids, insomnia, anxiety. Avoid the above
mentioned foods and eat more:
cool: bamboo shoots, clams, crab, grapefruit, kelp, wintermelon,
watermelon, tomatoes, spinach (most green leafy vegetables), strawberries,
mango, pears, apples (most fruit), peppermint tea.
neutral: apricots, beets, black fungus, chinese cabbage, carp,
celery, chicken eggs, corn, figs, honey, kidney beans, anise,
lotus, papaya, rice.
Balancing: Food Cures and Nutrients
TCM holds that too much hot food one's lifetime will result
in Obseity while too much cold food will cause yang deficiency
and cold conditions. A fatty and sugary diet may lead to cardiac
conditions. Good preparation and combination of food will benefit
the body health and lead to longevity.
Generally the diet should be high in protein, vitamins and fibre
and low in cholesterol, fat, sugar and salt.
Protein
Protein warms the body and aids in recovery from injury and illness.
Good sources of protien are: lean pork, soy, chicken, fish and
mushrooms. High protein diets are also good for people who are
malnourished with weight loss or are recovering from cancer treatments.
Vitamins
Vitamins, especially vitamin C and the B vitimins, which tend
to be lacking in the elderly are found most easily in steamed
vegetables, fruit, black fungus, soy and milk products.
Fibre
Fibre will help with digestion and benefit the bowels. It also
keeps the digestive tract free of toxic materials that may lead
to cancer.
Foods that are high in fibre include: oats, corn, steamed vegetables
and fruit.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is important for the functioning and wellbeing of
the body. Too much however, can accumulated in the body narrowing
and blocking channels and pathways. This can lead to obesity (putting
strain on the heart and other organs) and eventually stroke, and
heart attack.
Avoid over eating: organ meat, bone marrow, egg yolks, fish eggs,
squid or cuttlefish.
Eat more: lean pork, low fat milk, egg whites, soy milk, tofu.
Fat
Avoid eating too much fatty meat and deep fried food. This is
especially important of you have a tendency towards Gall Stones,
Gall Bladder or pancreatic infections or diarrhoea.
Sugar
Too much of any one thing can injure the body. The diabetic must
be especially careful of sugar as it will cause attacks of high
blood sugar and will transform to fat in the body.
Salt
An overly Salty dies has direct relation to hypertension, wind-stroke
and other cardiac disorders.
Harmonizing: The 5 Flavours
According to Neijing, the spleen and stomach tend to be deficient
in elderly people (due to declining yang). Thus, they are very
sensitive to disharmony of the five flavours. Beneficial food
should include a lot of variety. Good food for the elderly is
easy to digest and subtle or bland in nature (Qing Dan). Too much
fatty, sweet, oily/greasy food will cause artery hardness and
liver enlargement as well as excess body fat. If the food is too
strong in flavour (especially salty) it can cause many illnesses.
Bland food or a partially vegetarian diet helps to resolve toxicity
and bring balance in the body. Avoid eating excessive amounts
of meat. More soybean products, vegetable oils, or bean oils and
fruits and vegetables will clean out the intestines and allow
easy and unhindered bowel movements. The whole body then will
feel light and healthy and can more quickly recover from illness.
Food should be served warm (not overly hot or cold) and have
a good look or appealing appearance. This allows digestion to
occur more easily. Food should also be well cooked and soft. Cold
and hard food may injure the spleen and stomach. Soft food is
best for the elderly. Ideally congee (rice porridge) should become
a staple meal for the elderly. Make these herbal additions: sesame
seeds, walnuts, lian ze, soy beans, gou qi zi, he shou wu, shan
yao.
Gou qi zi (fructus Lycii) is a gently cooling herb that nourishes
yin and will promote longevity if eaten regularly in herbal congee.
He shou wu (radix polygoni multiflori) replentishes essence
and nourishes the blood, eliminates toxins and nsistens the intestines
and bowels.
Bai shao yao (radix paeonaie alba) nourishes blood and preserves
yin.
If the elderly suffer from the common wind-cold, have diarrhoea
or are recovering from surgery the diet should be suitable and
easily digested. Foods such as noodles, buns, soft rice, congee,
cakes, mashed vegatables, tofu, fish, soy milk or milk will promote
gentle digestion and a more rapid recovery. Make sure the food
is not too hot or cold. Cold food is especially not good for the
spleen and stomach, cold-damp or yang deficient conditions.
During the Meal
A meal should be taken when one is in a good mood to promote digestion.
Eat with attention to the meal and do not read, watch television,
talk excessively or do business. One should definitely not eat
while angry as it may cause internal harm and worsen stagnation.
Gentle music during the meal will promote digestion by satisfying
the spleen.
After Meals
After eating, don't lay down or sleep as this may cause food stagnation
or retention. It is said by the classic texts that spleen stagnation
leads to the 100 illnesses. Take a short walk but do not walk
too fast or perform strong physical activity. Too much activity
will bring the blood to the four extremities and away from the
digestive system. Walking slowly allows qi and blood to flow easily
and will promote longevity. This must be done regularly to have
a good effect. |
