A "million dollar worth health secret" - foot bath

    Once upon a time, a filial son wanted to find a remedy to keep his parents healthy and long lived. Eventually he found another guy whose mother had lived over 100 years. The son paid a lot money bought this "longevity secret" from this guy. When he got home and open the "secret", it simply says "Keep the head cool and keep the feet warm."


    Not to speak if the story is true or not, the "longevity secret" in the story is true. Keep your head cooler than your feet is the key to increase and maintain a good energy circulation for the body, especially as the weather is getting colder.

    Buy a basin/pail/bucket that is big enough for you to put your feet in, fill it with hot water, it should be hotter than your usual standard but not burring. Bath your feet for about 10 minuted or till the water is getting cool. Some friends put salt in, you can too if you have any but it's not necessary. I know there are power feet washing equipments for sale, but going "old school" on this one definitely do better for you.

  It takes 10 minutes of your life everyday, do it before you go to bed. Keep it up and I'm sure you will make your 10 minutes worth a million.

P.S

A friend asked about the saying of "keep the head cool". It is correct only under normal circumstances, meaning when you are under normal condition, not sick, not just got out the shower with wet hair, not just worked out and sweaty. In these conditions, especially when your hair is wet or head is sweaty, you must cover them to prevent the wind harm.

November 22nd, 2010, "Light Snow", the 2nd small winter season arrives

    If the last season "Winter commences"  did not make you think that winter is here, the "light snow" will prove it by giving you some snow, but just light, like its name.
   
    When the light snow drops, it will save us from the past dry seasons, our mouth, nose may feel somehow relieved from the dryness. Snow is the product of cold, it is the signal of the nature telling us to put on more layers and be prepare for what's coming. 
    
    Around this season, we are more likely to get more cloudy and dark days, again, this will affect people's mood, especially those who are or easy to get depressed need to find some good ways to adjust their mood in a sunny day. This is the main topic we are dealing with in this season and here I'd like to talk more about it with everyone.  


    TCM has a saying, "There are no more than three causes for thousands kinds of sickness". The "three causes" are "internal" (7 extreme emotions), "external" (wind,cold,heat,wet,dry,burns), and "non-internal nor-external" (cut, hit, poison...). Depression is often cause by "internal" factor. The 7 emotions include happy, angry, worry, concern, sad, scary and shock. We have these emotions in daily life as they are our normal reaction to the world around us. They will only cause problem if we live under one or more certain kinds of emotion for long time and cannot get out of it. Human emotion conditions show the psychological emotional activities, and the psychological activities are keys to any psychological and emotional sicknesses. Therefore, TCM thinks that extreme emotions is the cause of depression. Ancient Chinese "health preservation specialists" believed  in order to be healthy, one must unify with the changes of the universe, and keep a "empty" and peaceful mind. A clear mind keeps the energy inside and make a perfect "spirit-physical-unified" body.


    We all know that these days modern researches have shown that depression is also caused by certain neuron or chemical elements in the body, but modern medicine never deny that depression is also a result of abnormal emotional activities. There are some researches show that there is a weird thing in our brain called "5-hydroxy tryptamine" (I guess scientists love to name things in a super hard way so they can keep them to themselves and when they mention these words to everyone else nobody will understand what they are anyway thus won't bother ask about ...). The "5-HT" thing reacts to season changes strongly. It functions stronger in spring and summer, but very weak in fall and winter. 


   In conclusion, in this season, the "internal" factors can be more powerful than the "external" factors. We must be happy, enjoy the holidays, listen to happy music, do more outdoor activities especially in good days. Also eat the right thing - banana. Scientists say banana can produce that "5-HT" thing, so let's benefit from their research, without side effects. 


P.S.  I mentioned earlier that this winter season is under influence of 2 "wood wind" factors. "snow" may ends up with "rain" and "wind". Cold rain is very harmful, especially for those who have joints related problems. Be very very careful, cover up your joints and try to keep them warm all the time!

November 7th, 2010, "winter commences", the 1st small Winter season arrives

     "Winter Commences" indicates the start of winter. It is one of the very original 8 seasons in Chinese lunar season system.These 8 seasons are also the most important seasons among all 24. 


    Although the real winter may not always start with "winter Commences" day (the continuation of days that has temperature lower than 10 Celsius, or 50 F, usually is treated as the real start of winter),  in traditional Chinese, the character for "winter" （冬）, meanings the same as "end" （終）. Winter is the ending season of the year, so is the farming activities. After the autumn harvest, all crops are stored, and many animals are ready for hibernation. Yang energy goes towards its lowest level and Yin goes very strong. Everything is in a state of "storing", gathering and store its energy for next spring to grow. Therefore in order to make sure we have great Yang energy for next spring and stay healthy in winter, the keys for health preservation are, "slow down", "being more static", "store", "hide", and remain a stable emotional state. Make sure to get more sleep than usual, do not force yourself for any unnecessary physical and mental activities.


    It is also the transition season of "dry" and "cold". Things are often at it's extreme towards the end, therefore this can be the driest small season so far before real winter cold arrives. That makes 2 things very important to us. No.1, prepare for the cold and keep your body warm; No.2, balance body organs moisture level, avoid being harmed by dryness. 


    In Chinese traditional folk culture, the day of "winter commences"  is the best time to “intake” or eat great stuff for a day in plain saying. People believe that to eat the best you can in this day can benefit you for the entire winter. But in reality we need to be smart about the "intake". We often see people eat a lot of things that considered "nourishing", but get ill from them instead. Besides eating enough fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits, the main directions for winter food in northern areas (cold areas) are high energy food, such as potato, beef and lamb (lamb is my personal favor all year round, although for sure it works the best in cold season); On the other hand, in southern areas (warmer areas)it is better to take foods that are fresh, clear, mild and warm, such as chicken, duck and fish.

   

    Joints, especially knees, related symptoms are rampant during winter. If you already have knees problem it is the season for you to be extra careful. Make sure to keep your knees warm by wrapping them with necessary layers, but meanwhile make sure to use them to keep the structure active and alive. For those whose knees are still in good shape, don't take it for granted, take care of them by keeping them warm, avoid any possible direct wind blow and dampness, meanwhile maintain reasonable exercises like jogging, walking and Tai Chi. 

    

    In colder areas, after you start to heating your house, the air in the closed room are usually very dry, thus may cause skin and respiratory system related problems. Therefore maintaining good air moisture level is also very important. A small humidifier may help. Also, do open the windows for a bit in a nicer winter day to exchange the air. Preferable open the windows that face south, and strictly avoid draught. 

   Finally just another simple and great tip you should do every winter night before you go to bed. Bath your feet  (soak them in hot-warm water) for several minutes (or until the water seems to be cooling down) even if you already took a shower earlier, dry them well and rub the bottom of your feet. Trust me this doesn't take long to do but benefit you longer than you can imagine, if you persevere. 

a simple and great remedy to remove retained fluid in the body

    Recently I have been meeting lots people with excessive water AKA retained the fluid in their body. It must have something to do with the nature of Buffalo -- windy, cold and wet.


    We all know the body is pretty much made of water and a healthy body keeps a balanced water level. Too much fluid usually cause swollen in arms, legs, ankles and belly.  Some overweighted people try to loose weight but what they don't understand is their weight is not "fat", but fluid instead. But overweight may be the least serious problem caused by fluid, there are many other sever symptoms like joint pain, arthritis, pericardial effusion and even tumor. Fluid in general slows down the flow of Qi (energy and blood), thus cause Qi shortage at certain part of body.


   What I'm saying is extra fluid cause problem, so get rid of them and put your body fluid to the right level.


    So cover yourself well in a cold and windy weather and don't run around in your shorts and thick sweater in a cold and damp day. Plus, Here is the remedy for removing the fluid and maintain good water level, everyone can use it:
                                                              

Pearl Barley 

and red bean.

    Both barley and red bean are very hard, the best way to cook is soak them overnight, then boil them together with enough water in the morning until the soup turns light red. Then you can have it in your water bottle or cup for the day. Don't worry about the proportion, but make sure there is enough water. Drink in room temperature and don't leave them over night. And you don't have to eat the ingredient as the essence is in the soup already, but you can still eat them as a side dish. Put some sugar won't hurt if you like sweet.

    

    One of my client says you can find pearl barley at Tops or Wegman's in Buffalo area. And make sure the red bean is the small red bean, not those big ones you use in your chili, you can find them in many Asian store if not in local super markets.  

The self-healing tips for HANGOVER are finally here!

There are often 2 major kinds of hangover symptom:


1: Headache being the main symptom, with eye swollen or/and echo in the head from talking. This is usually caused by acetaldehyde accumulation. 
2: Bad emotion being the main symptom, with nauseous or vomiting. This is usually caused by acute gastritis. 
If you went hardcore the night before then you may have both. If you have swollen fingers or even losing conscious, then it's probably alcohol intoxication and you better have someone call 911 for you.

To save you from symptom 1, find the following points:
No.1 Bai Hui: midpoint of the line between the two ears, very top point of the head. Method: press.

No.2 Tian Zhu: on the neck, level with C2, in the depression at the lateral border of  trapezius. Method: rub.

No.3 Gan Shu: level with T9, 2 fingers away from the spine. Method: tap, hit or rub (Don't worry if you can't find the exact locations, even you are just working the area it will still work.)

To Save you from symptom 2, simply rub the up, down, left and right, 4 points that are about 3cm from the bellybutton, then press them down, hold about 6 seconds then release. Repeat about 10 times or simply till you feel better.

Hope this helps! (Although I have not yet got a chance to test them myself )

October 23rd, 2010, "Hoar Frost", the last small Autumn season arrives

    "Hoar Frost", the last autumn season, and the 18th season of the year. Meaning, after this season we will be in winter. Just like its name, as it's getting much colder at night, the "cold dew" from last season becomes white frost in the morning. In some area the temperature can reach as low as 0 Celsius.
  
    Being the transition season between autumn and winter, we have noticed the change from "cool" to "cold", and the color of the leaves. As the temperature goes down our blood and energy flow also speeds down with it. Tendons and bones will be affected a lot, thus many of us will experience joint pain, especially on the lower back and knees. Make sure you protect your knees and lower back by adding necessary clothes.


   Besides lungs and large intestine, which we have been talking about for a while, stomach and spleen also need attention as they are active and sensitive during the end of every season. If you had chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer this is the season you need to be careful of as the risk of relapse is high. Being stimulated by the cold air, our autonomic nerve function is affected, so is the normal gastric movement. Our metabolism will increase, more gastric and digesting related "juice" will be released. We may have better appetite and that will give more job to our stomach and spleen. Also if cold air runs into the stomach, it will cause contraction of the blood vessel of the stomach that may lead to lacking of  blood and energy supply in the gastrointestinal mucosa (barrier). These can all  affect the self-repair process of any existing ulcer, or even cause new ulcer. Therefore, make sure take easy on your stomach, don't eat or drink like out of control.


    Food wise, follow the same rule of "Warm, mild, moisturizing" from the past seasons.  Recommended food are pear, apple,olive, onion, white radish, whole grain, lotus, grape, and honey. Avoid hot and spicy food. Drink more water than usual. And of course chrysanthemum tea if you not yet done it.


   And here is a direct and simple way to moisturize the lung. Pour hot water into a cup, like when you drink the tea, and inhale the steam. But after all, the best way of exercise is still the natural way, such as jogging, walking, hiking and  practicing Qi Gong. Plus, believe or not, laughing will also help the lungs.


   Finally, again, keep a good mind, don't be sad seeing everything fading, the universe is simply changing its own look. Enjoy it, and enjoy yourself too!

extra red wine at home? here is a new way to drink it for health

I have read an article recently about a new popular way of drinking red wine in Asia and I think it's worth sharing. To make it simple, I will only list the main benefits of this new way, which includes:
1. Regulating blood pressure ( I think it's more about lowering though, so if you have low blood pressure then this may not be for you) and blood sugar level.
2. help with presbyopia
3. help with those who have to get up many times during sleep for bathroom
4. insomnia or insomniac-like symptoms
5. blur vision caused by overusing the eyes
6. abdominal distension (gassy belly) and constipation
7. cataract
8. knee joint pain
9. even prevent cancer and senile dementia!


Sound great I guess. Well, it's not a "immortal" remedy, but since there is no side effects, it's worth trying. 


How to do it? Simply put onion in it.


One regular bottle (750ml) wine can be mixed with 2-3 onions. It's not that strict, you get the idea.


Chop your onion into pieces (bite size), put them into the red wine, seal the bottle and store it in the fridge for a week.  


Then drink a cup just like you drink the red wine (or about 50ml), once a day. If you don't drink, you can mix the wine with water or, boil it to have the alcohol out. And if you like sweet, a bit of honey won't hurt.


So here is your "New Wine to Health". 


I made some for myself, it was some cheap wine we had from my friend's party and now it taste like onion. You really don't need the greatest wine for it though, but it just taste better with good wine, so it's your choice, and I hope you will be another one who benefit from it.