Nourishing adzuki bean and pumpkin stew

There is nothing nicer than soups and stews to warm you up when the weather is cold.

Adzuki bean and pumpkin stew is not only easy to make but it is naturally sweet and nourishing for your digestive system.

This is a perfect recipe for autumn and winter as that is when pumpkins are in season. In Chinese dietetics pumpkins correspond with the Earth element which represents the digestive system. Pumpkins are considered warming and deeply nourishing for both your digestion and your lungs. Pumpkins are also very versatile. Here is a delicious pumpkin soup recipe that I posted a few years ago. They are delicious roasted with sesame oil and tamari and every Halloween my son loves it when I make a sweet pumpkin pie.

I first discovered Adzuki beans when I was in Japan and tried red bean pancakes. They are still one of my favourite deserts and no trip to Chinatown is complete without buying a red bean bun for a treat. Adzuki beans (Chi Xiao Dou) are one of those wonderful foods that are also used medicinally in Chinese medicine. They are classified as a damp draining herb so are great when you feel like you are retaining fluid. Since they look like little kidneys and are a diuretic they are are considered to support your kidney energy which makes them a perfect addition to winter cooking as winter is the season to nourish your kidneys.

Ingredients:  … Read on

Breathe and receive the gifts of autumn

Some people say that autumn begins on March 1^st, other say it begins with the equinox on March 21^st. I personally love to celebrate the equinox as this is a time when our days and nights are of equal length. Yin and yang are in perfect balance following the yang outward energy of summer and before the yin inward energy of winter. This is a time where we can bring into balance our willingness to receive and our ability to let go as we breathe in and breathe out.

If you watch nature you will observe that Autumn doesn’t begin on any specific day. It glides in gently as the morning air becomes crisper and the leaves turn from greens to reds and golds and browns and then let go for their return to the earth. I have been watching the maple tree in my garden and its colours have been slowly changing through February, as the weather cools, and becoming more vibrant through March. Each leaf changing at it’s own rate and letting go when the time is right for it.

In Chinese medicine they say that autumn corresponds with the energy of the lungs and the large intestine. This correspondence makes perfect sense as these organs … read more

Keep Calm and Stay Well

It’s hard to open any email or Facebook post these days and not see something about COVID-19. Everyone is in a state of panic and finding it hard to think rationally. Yes, this is a condition that must be taken seriously, however, it is also important to remember that fear and panic are stress responses and stress will reduce your immunity.

I recently shared a post on Facebook by Bruce Lipton, PhD (a stem cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief). Amongst other things he stated that “the fear of the coronavirus is more deadly than the virus itself!” In sharing this post I was accused of spreading incorrect and irresponsible information and of not realising just how dangerous this virus is.

This is a dangerous virus, especially for the elderly and for those with lowered immunity. It is also a new virus for which we have not yet built an immunity and it is highly contagious. We do need to be vigilant with the precautions being suggested by the Australian Government Department of Health and by the WHO.  We need to look after ourselves, and we also need to look after our family and friends, and the community at large by doing the following: … read more

Boost your immunity

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With cold and flu season soon upon us my thoughts now turn to how to help you stay well through winter. We are constantly being exposed to infectious agents and yet, in most cases, we are able to resist these infections. Exposure alone to viruses and bacteria does not always lead to illness, it is a weak immune system together with the exposure that is more likely to do so.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is able to boost your immune system naturally through acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Studies have found that acupuncture increases white blood cell production and enhances Natural Killer Cells and Lymphocytes which leads to increased immune response and decreased risk of infection. So the next time you feel too sick to make an acupuncture appointment or feel like cancelling one because you are sick  think again as a treatment or two can lessen the severity of your signs and symptoms as well as shorten the duration of your cold or flu.

In Chinese medicine, immunity comes from Qi, or energy, which gives us the power and energy to do things including fight off viruses and bacteria. Generally we consider two types of energy within your body: (1) constitutional or Prenatal Qi is the energy we are born with, that we inherit, and (2) Acquired or Postnatal Qi is the energy we acquire from the air we breathe, the food we eat and the lifestyle we choose. Included within the category of Postnatal Qi is both Ying Qi, or Nutritive Qi, and Wei Qi, or Defensive Qi. The combination of Nutritive and Defensive Qi describes the body’s natural resistance against diseases and its ability to repair itself as your energy flows freely around your body. So nourishing your Qi and ensuring its smooth flow is one of the keys to boosting your immunity. It is interesting to note that similarly within our immune system we also consider two types of immunity: (1) the innate, non-specific or inherited immune system, our first line of defense against invading organisms and (2) the adaptive, specific or acquired immune system that acts as a second line of defense and also affords protection against re-exposure to the same pathogen.

Your immune system responds to signals from many of the systems within your body, particularly the nervous system and the endocrine system. As a consequence, environmental events such as the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the lifestyle we choose elicits responses from our nervous and endocrine systems which then affect our immune system.

Let us start with the air we breathe. Each day you inhale thousands of germs (bacteria and viruses) that are floating in the air. Your immune system generally deals with them without a problem. A cold or flu is a sign that your immune system failed to stop the germ, however, the fact that you get over the cold or flu is a sign that your immune system was able to eliminate the invader after learning about it.

Another aspect of breathing, however, is its amazing ability to shift us between our Sympathetic Nervous system (our flight and fight response which usually has us breathing short, shallow breaths) and our Parasympathetic Nervous system (our rest and digest response which we can activate by breathing with long, deep belly breaths). Psychologists in the field of psychoneuroimmunology have shown that your state of mind affects your state of health so using your breath to help you release stress and relax can improve your immunity.

It is your immune system’s ability to regulate inflammation that predicts who will develop a cold. When you are under stress your immune cells are unable to respond to hormonal control and as such produce levels of inflammation that promotes disease. With the common cold, symptoms are not caused by the virus or bacteria but by your inflammatory response that is triggered as part of your body’s effort to fight infection.

Secondly, the lifestyle you choose. If you find yourself using unhealthy behavioral coping strategies to reduce your stress, such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, poor diet, lack of exercise, and lack of sleep then this will also affect your immunity. So finding constructive ways to manage stress, especially chronic or long-term stress (even if it’s not intense), may help you do everything from combating the common cold to speeding up healing after surgery. Regular acupuncture treatments are a great way to manage your stress and during treatments we also focus on encouraging good health behaviors such as eating, sleeping and exercising well.

Finally, the food you eat, or more importantly how well you absorb the nutrients you require for your immunity to function optimally. Your stress response affects your digestive system. During stress your digestion is inhibited and absorption is minimal after stress your digestive activity returns. Stress produces an increase in blood cholesterol levels, through the action of adrenaline and nor-adrenaline on the release of free fatty acids. And the chronic inflammation that we have already discussed as linked to many diseases may also be linked to dysfunctional gut microbiota.

Our digestive system plays a huge role in immune function. Our intestines contain more immune cells than the entire rest of our body. In a healthy person, the microbes in the gut stimulate the immune system as needed. Unfortunately there is an increasing disruption of these microbes from our modern lifestyle, diet, overuse of antibiotics and other issues. Problems ranging from autoimmune disease to clinical depression and simple obesity may in fact be linked to immune dysfunction that begins in your digestive system and it could be as simple as rebalancing it with prebiotics and probiotics and fermented foods as well as using Chinese herbs and acupuncture to help restore good digestive function.

So if you want to be well this winter then it will be important for you to breathe deeply, eat well and manage your stress. Some regular acupuncture treatments would be of great benefit too.

 

Autumn and your Lungs

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This year the Autumn Equinox falls on March 21^st.  This is the date on which there are an equal number of hours of daylight and darkness. After this the nights will start to get longer until we reach the longest night on the Winter solstice.

As the nights become longer issues with sleep can become highlighted for some people.  World Sleep Day is held annually on the third Friday in March.  In 2014 it is all about ‘Restful Sleep, Easy Breathing, and Healthy Body’. This slogan is quite apt for this time of year as in Chinese medicine autumn corresponds with your Lung energy.  When you are breathing easily and deeply you switch off your fight and flight response to life and  can relax enough to sleep deeply.  When you have a restful night’s sleep you replenish the energy you need to face the day, your immune system will be strong and you will have a healthy body. If you have trouble with any of these areas, then consider a course of acupuncture to help put you back on track.

A common occurrence I often see in clinic in autumn is the 4am wake up. This tends to occur due to the fact that not only do the lungs correspond with autumn in Chinese medicine but they also correspond with the time period of 3am – 5am.  To stay asleep at this time means we need to have nourished our yin, our spiritual side as much as our yang, our mental and physical side.  If you do find yourself waking up too early then connect with your breath in meditation and start the day in your body rather than in your head. Then book yourself in for some acupuncture to help you sleep more peacefully.

Autumn not only corresponds with the Lungs but also with the Large intestine in Chinese medicine, both are important organs of elimination.  At this time nature is transforming from the lush greens of summer to the beautiful reds and golds of autumn, and the trees are losing their leaves.  So as we synchronise ourselves to the flow of nature it is timely for us to spend more time indoors and to turn within to determine what it is we now need to let go of, physically and emotionally, in order to create space for new ideas that can then germinate through winter and blossom in spring.

Deep, rhythmic belly breathing is a great way of letting things go.  Make time each morning to inhale the crisp, fresh autumn air and feel yourself inspired and purified, ready to breathe in whatever exciting future you can envision.  Make time equally to exhale the old, the negative and any impurity and pain from your body, mind and spirit as you accept and let go of the past.  Our breath is the best way we have to regulate our autonomic nervous system which controls the conditions inside our bodies. When we are breathing deeply into our bellies we activate the parasympathetic nervous system or the rest and digest system. However, when we are in a state of flight and fight, the sympathetic nervous system, we tend to breath with short shallow breaths. By changing the rhythm and nature of your breath your can move out of flight and fight and relax into the flow of life.

To support the energy of letting go this is a perfect time to go through your cupboards, desk, garage, or any cluttered area, and throw out, donate or sell what you no longer need. This is also a perfect time to go within and have a look at your attitudes, perspectives, prejudices or resentments and attempt to resolve your old issues and let them go too.

Autumn is the season, in Chinese medicine, when we focus on strengthening your lung energy.  This helps to boost your immune system so you can more easily let go of any colds and flu that come your way.   When your lung energy is strong you will have more energy to embrace change and can more easily live in the now. When lung energy declines your immunity breaks down, you become tired and short of breath. Remember that short shallow breaths put us into as state of flight and flight and in this state we tend to live in the past and fear the future.  You can help nourish your lungs with deep conscious breaths, swimming and skin brushing (as the lungs rule the skin).  While the emotions of sadness, grief and disappointment tend to drain the lung energy values such as integrity and righteousness replenish the lungs, it’s all about being fully present and that is where the importance of the breath once again comes in to play. As the weather cools down you can also nourish yourself by warming up your diet.