So it's not salad this time but Chinese dates

I had been expecting a "fundamental" health change since spring started, like I had experienced before. But, just at the time I thought it's coming, I got a backlash instead... However, today, the magic mercifully came! Not with salad, but some Chinese herbal "supplements".

Here is what happened to me this morning, I woke up feeling as weak as yesterday but I suddenly realized another day I had blood test: they took 5 tubes of my blood. I didn't feel the difference right after, but problems started from that day, with all other small issues they gave me a huge backfire. So this morning I decided that I had to do something good for my blood (I don't necessarily have animia but it used to be my problem). So I put some dray Chinese dates,Astragalus membranaceus and some Angelica gigas together with a small chichen (the tiny one that has no fat, all natural, I got it from Chinese market), just boiled them for about 2 hours then eat them also drink the soup. Guess what? I felt so good right after! I felt the "tangible" change inside my body!


(Dry) Chinese dates ("Hong Zao") is the number one herbal product to enrich blood, esp. for women.










Astragalus membranaceus ("Huang Qi") is the most popular Chinese herbal used to replenish vital energy of our bodies, for both men and women.









Here is a very popular Chinese traditional herbal "prescription"(more like a recipe): mixing both of these products together and boil with water a while and drink it like tea. Dates alone should also do very good. Another thing important is, it's better to break the surface of dates before cook, otherwise it will make some "fire" in our body and produce some "pinpoints" on our faces (for me, I would get pinpoints on my lips, which of course is disturbing).

This is supposed to be the best for women who feel weak and cold all the time, and it is supposed to work the best DURING SPRING (or during spring we need it the most)!

Outside activity

Image by Bukowsky18 via Flickr

I used to believe, that all my problems would be gone if I could find a job that let me working outside everyday. I never get chances, but I still believe in it. Today is such a beautiful day that I could not help planting 21 pieces of green onions (it just happened to be 21, 3x7! 3 times luckiest number!) on my backyard. After that, I felt the difference: I breathed better and felt better.
Yes! Stay outside more! Each breath of fresh air I take is a does of best "medicine"!

About Chinese medicine

I have been seriously using Chinese herbals since the beginning of January, under a "remote control" of a Chinese doctor online. Now I do feel better. However, honestly, I cannot tell how much of this is caused by Chinese herbals and how much is caused by my good rest/diet.

I tend to believe this: if any medicines/ herbals/ supplements took too long to be effective, they cannot be the only thing that worked, our body's self-regulatory function very possibly contributed more on the positive results.

But still, Chinese medicine believes that's what the Chinese medicine does: helping our body to do it's own job - makes its self-regulatory system works.

Simple, healthy salad again!

Image via Wikipedia

Today I enjoyed my own homemade salad first time in several months.

During my years' struggling with CFS, twice my "sudden recovery" had something to do with salad, and both of them happened in Spring.
The first time was 2005 spring. I was advised to eat salad by a guy who was helping me with yoga and other exercises. he believed that I had something called "yeast related syndrome". Later I learned that it was very true to me and most chronic illnesses/tiredness really have lots to do with this "yeast" - a natural parasites live inside our bodies. Some allergists discovered this phenomenon and they believed that when yeasts overgrown, they would stress our immune system, and we would physically be weaker and weaker because our immune systems get so busy to deal with yeasts. So killing yeasts would be a effective way to cure fatigue or other problems.

One effective way to kill them is stopping feeding them by eliminate the foods that yeasts like. It was believed by most researchers or allergists that, suger, processed flour, oily foods are yeasts' favorite foods, and healthy vegs especially raw vegs are their "enemies".
So I took advice and started salad diet. The effects were immediate. The first time I was feeling healthy during part of 2005 and almost whole 2006. Last year, I started in later February, and it worked perfect as well. However, I overdid last year. I ate salad and fishes only for about 4 months. It produced some opposite overcome --- lack of nutrition. So later I had to quite eat any cold and raw foods otherwise my stomach would feel upset.
Interesting thing is, many Chinese people used to eat cooked foods and they just don't like salad. I personally cannot eat salad all the time. By Chinese medicine, raw / cold foods are not good to stomach especially if your stomach is weak. This is true to me especially after last year's experience. However, I understand that western people grow up in different foods stype and they used to eat salad completely so they would have no problem at all with it.

Now spring is here, after a whole winter's energy store, I feel like eating salad and killing yeasts again:-)

The salad I made by myself is simple:
Lettuce, a little sliced red onion, cucumber, and some walnuts (or any other vegs, but onion for me has to be little bit and very thin sliced). I don't use dressing from market. All I had is some minced ginger and garlic (ginger produces heat so it is important to have when we make raw and cold foods, garlic can do cleansing of course) , a little sesame oil, some olive oil, very little salt and some vinegar. That's it.

Another important thing to do in Spring

Keep warm! People tend to wear much less as the weather gets warm, but by Chinese medicine, we may want to deliberately stay warmer than we feel like, because the sudden change would very easily make us get cold.

Just a small tip.

Spring - sleep early, wake up early

Image via Wikipedia

So what should we do in spring? Here is the quot from the best known Chinese medicine book " Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon": "lying at night and get up early, walk around the court"* ("court" means "outside" here, not "courtroom". of course)

By Chinese medicine, spring is the time that our positive energy start to grow, just like the nature. So if during winter we should sleep early and wake up later in order to store our energy, during spring, we should sleep early, wake up early --- get to outside and follow up the rhythm of nature. Also, we would feel more sleepy in spring but, Chinese medicine theory insists that do not sleep too much even you feel like (so what about "listen to our body"? ).

Light exercises (and sex?) are definitely encouraged.

Interesting thing is, by Chinese medicine, each internal organ belong to different season. Liver belongs to spring. The function of liver controls our temperament ( i.e. an easily irritated person is supposed to have some sort of liver malfunction). It is also said that based on records of history that most liver diseases occurred during spring. So, during spring, we should be extra careful with our temper: do not get too much excitement or anger (excitement by sex won't be counted I guess) .

Superstitious or not, I guess it won't hurt to have a try. I will.

*皇帝内经．Original Chinese text: 夜卧早起，广步于庭.

Winter, a time to "store"

Image by *saipal via Flickr

Based on Chinese medicine, the function of human body follows the nature. So we should do differently during different seasons.

Now is winter, we should rest. Do not do too much exercise because winter is the time to store our energy.
Since I was suffering tremendous fatigue last fall, this anonymous Chinese doctor I met online asked me NOT to do any exercise until spring. I followed his advice. All these couple of months I have been doing is rest, massive amount of rest. Yes I gained some weight (which I hate), but my energy is coming back!

I don't know if this sounds superstitious to someone or not, but I believe our human is part of nature. So there is nothing wrong to follow the mother Nature.

An anonymous Chinese doctor online

Image by ComerZhao via Flickr

I had bad fall last year. Out of desperation, I went online looking for help a lot. At the end of last year, a Chinese doctor I met on an online health forum started to take care of me amazingly: after given a detail email about my health history, he gave me a Chinese herbal prescription, and changed it once a while after my health problems changed. Now I am in the third prescription he gave me.
I knew him after I joined a debate about Chinese and Western medicine. This doctor's opinion drew my attention and soon I sent him an email with some questions. Then he asked me to write him a detailed message about my health. And after that, I finally felt like under some professional care! What amazed me was not only I wrote him often, but he also asked me often if he didn't hear from me. He is very confident about what he is doing.
And you know what? I didn't even know his real name!

Magic ginger and hot foot bath

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My health has been stable for a while. Not at all at my best, but I got some energy to handle my daily life.
What's new in my diet? Ginger! Based on Chinese medicine and my own experience, "coldness" in your body does lots of bad things, and ginger, as a herb also a veg, can magically make your body to generate heat, thus increases blood circulation and improve metabolism. So I put lots of ginger in my food, stir fry or soup.
Here is how I make my soup, very easy: put sliced ginger in pot, add water, little veg oil if you like, salt, then boil it. Sometime I would add sliced tofu too. After water boiled, put some green vegs you like, such as spinach, cabbage or whatever. Less than 30 seconds after that the soup should be done.

And of course, I am continuing my hot foot bath, every night. It does help my sleep!

My health update

I have been taking some Chinese herbal medicine for about one week. Feels a little better.
I knew this doctor from a Chinese health forum. He gave me free advices and diagnosed me based on my detailed message through internet. What he said convinced me so I got herbal from New York China Town and cook it everyday carefully.
One thing dismays me: I cannot do almost any exercise (however the fact is I could not exercise for very long time)! Based on this doctor, I don't have enough stored energy to use, so I should not sweat! This is very tough to me because I hate to gain weight! I have already gain weight during these months and now it looks like I have to just let it go! But again, I believe what this doctor said, because during these couple of years almost every major relapses were due to my over-exercise!
So, I will watch myself gaining some extra pounds!