Herbal Medicine
Tryptophan Foods & its Benefits
The ancient Chinese stressed the importance of eating foods that are “rich in qi and blood,” which upon scientific reflection, was in many cases referring to foods that are dense in the amino acid, tryptophan. Why?
The amino acid, tryptophan, is the precursor to the neurotransmitter, serotonin, which in turn regulates sleep and emotions, also digestive function, blood clotting, bone, and cardiovascular health. Circling back to Chinese medical terms, when your acupuncturist says that your gut is reliant upon strong and healthy “qi” to produce strong and healthy blood, this is what they mean. We need amino acids to produce not only literal blood, but also the neurotransmitters whose functions are synonymous with that of “the blood,” from a Chinese medical perspective.
Most people think of tryptophan around Thanksgiving and its effects of making us tired after the enormous holiday meal, but that fatigue is actually more likely due to the profound overconsumption of carbs and calories.
Other sources of tryptophan besides turkey are as follows, complete with warnings of their potential side effects and how to mitigate them:
- Chicken
- Is mass produced, so be sure to always consume in good, organic quality. Also can overstimulate the liver vessel, so ideal to consume with sour foods, such as lemon or sauerkraut to offset this effect. Unfortunately, the worst way to consume chicken is with hot sauce or spicy foods, which potentiates this effect.
- Beef
- Can generate excessive heat in the intestines, so should be consumed alongside bitter greens. Again, sad news: the worst way to consume is alongside alcohol, which can potentiate the heat effect. Eat plenty of bitters to counteract!
- Fish
- Beware of high mercury fish, as my wife always reminds me! Other than that, as the many centenarians of Okinawa and the Mediterranean know, there are little side effects to wild fish
- Eggs
- They’re just too expensive these days, and the inorganic variety are a problem. Other than that, eggs are nearly as perfect as fish 🙂
- Dairy
- Dairy has health benefits, but it is very cold and damp in its physiological behavior in the body. If you tend to low appetite, brain fog, diarrhea, bloating, or skin conditions you should avoid as much as possible.
- Soy
- Soy is also cold and damp and should be cooked alongside plenty of spices, onions, garlic, ginger, and even hot peppers, to offset its effect.
Besides tryptophan, another Thanksgiving cliche that benefits qi and blood is gratitude 🙂
Treatment for Loss of Voice
As we approach an exciting Yankees first World Series appearance in 15 years, Halloween, and an even scarier Election Day, there’s a good chance a lot of people will be losing their voices, as a result of screaming and shouting, hopefully for joy. Couple that with the dry autumn season, which corresponds with Chinese medicine’s lung channel, and many will be more prone to hoarseness and/or dry, hacking coughs.
Aphonia, or loss of voice, can happen for one of two reasons in Chinese medicine:
- The adrenals that secrete hormones, such as estrogen are weak and/or weak in reserves and there just isn’t enough fluid to lubricate the throat. For this, the best self-care recommendations are eating good quality pork and beefs and getting plenty of rest, with early bedtimes. Herbal medicine is preferable to acupuncture, namely formulas that help strengthen the kidneys and generate systemic fluids.
- Dryness exists more around the pancreas and stomach organs, subtly impairing digestion and giving rise to dry, inflammatory heat that tends to flare up into the chest and throat, then drying out the fluids up top and creating a vicious cycle. Labeled a “Shao Yang” pathology, this is common in singers and teachers, and can be treated with acupuncture and/or herbal medicine. Best self-care recommendations are possibly a bit more exercise, white rice, and/or congee and sweet potatoes, red date tea, and again, early bedtimes.
Of course, there are other causes, other etiologies and contributing factors, such as being on one’s menses, which dries out the internal blood, which in turn dries out either the kidneys or digestive organs, exemplifying these patterns as primary suspects to target in treatment.
Peppermint tea with honey is another fine option to treat, although if you are prone to bloating, loose stool, or lack of appetite, honey might not be the best thing for you.
On the other hand, ginger tea is likely to aggravate this situation due to its drying nature. While potentially very healthy, ginger has earned itself an undeserving reputation as unconditionally so, especially when treating people suffering from anemia or any chronic dryness.
When navigating any form of soreness or dryness from the chest up it is advisable to avoid hot sauce or spicy foods, as they can obviously aggravate the inflammation. Ironically, it is equally advisable to avoid iced cold drinks, which constrict vasculature around the throat and further impede the arrival of healthy systemic fluids to lubricate the region
Wishing everyone a lubricated throat and organs in these highly anticipated events!
I’m predicting Yankees in 7.
I’m predicting Kamala.
And in a group family effort, I will be Olaf from Frozen for Halloween. Pics to come!
Allergies and Chinese Medicine
Allergy season is here! Claritin and Allegra are flying off the shelves as people fly out of their minds, unable to stop mucus from plummeting from their orifices. Eyes are itchy, sneezing on trains is incessant, peaking everyone’s concern about the guy next to them. Is it Covid or allergies? Probably the latter, but not worth the risk. As the new fight or flight of cold and flu season goes: Mask or move?
In Chinese medicine allergies are a symptom of “wei qi deficiency,” or immunological compromise, in the springtime generally due more to a weakness in the body’s blood or healthy organ fluids—in fall more to excess inflammation and/or a weakened microbiome.
Fall is the season that corresponds more with the lungs and respiratory orifices, making allergies at this time of year a bit more biologically “normal” than those in the spring. Spring corresponds with the “liver,” which is to say the functional aspect of the body that uses blood to raise cellular energy upwards and outwards, including our immunological cells. Chances are good if one suffers with spring allergies, they might also be prone to anemia, dizziness, general dryness, or blood loss (which includes childbirth!).
While OTC medications are reductionist medicine—never the most thoughtful treatment—they are understandable to use as needed, temporarily and in moderation. Over time they can indiscriminately dry out our healthy fluids, especially in allergy sufferers of the spring variety. Persons with severe blood or fluid deficiency often find that OTC allergy meds are either ineffective or only temporarily effective, causing they or their doctor to increase dosages, thereby aggravating the root cause of the condition.
Enter the first mentioned and arguably most important herbal formula in our medicine’s most important text, cinnamon branch, or “gui zhi.” Cinnamon branch dilutes blood vessels to assist in circulating cellular energy, both of the immune system and otherwise (mostly) upward. Its primary indications include those of common viruses, such as headaches, sweating, neck and body pains, as cinnamon reaches the most superficial layer of the body to ward off external pathogens and circulate fluids back downward.
Its most famous formulaic combination includes licorice, ginger, dates, and most importantly paeonia root, whose job is to mitigate cinnamon’s warm, drying qualities, to nourish the blood and protect the stomach from over-heating (in other words, a more thoughtful Allegra). Two famous modifications of this formula are one that completely omits the cinnamon, and another that completely omits the paeonia, each of which radically changes its effects one way or the other. For spring allergies, we might consider omitting the cinnamon to enhance the blood nourish effects of paeonia on the liver meridian, which is ruled by spring. Conversely, at this time of year, as we begin our descent into the colder weather, we omit the paeonia, allowing the cinnamon to run wild, warming both the body’s surface and its internal organs below.
But of course, this is Chinese medicine, and we might do neither of these. Based on one’s tongue, pulse, and oral report, we might not even use a cinnamon-based formula! Gui Zhi is just one example of our line of thought in treating the immunological challenge that are allergies.
Spring is “Shao Yang” Season!
As I made my way this Monday through my ten-block, 2 ½ avenue walk from Penn Station to the office, the 41-degree winds whipping into my face, masquerading as 30 degrees, that lovely sweatshirt-only, spring day of the previous weekend felt like ancient history, only to return like an overdue hug on Tuesday.
Even on these open-air, warm days, I’m cynically aware of what they ares. A tease, a mere foreshadowing of the still relatively distant future, a glimpse into a climate we may or may not experience each year, and for the next several weeks one that will rear its head only sporadically, thereby confusing our wardrobes and forcing us to check the weather app daily.
Spring corresponds with the wood element in Chinese medicine, which corresponds with the gallbladder meridian, or shao yang layer of health and disease.
At their root, “shao yang pathologies,” which can be anything from gastrointestinal to neurological, emotional, autoimmune, or otherwise, are said to be caused by “dry,” or weak guts. Vulnerability in metabolism leads to inflammation that flares upwards, commonly manifesting in symptoms such as chest tightness, throat dryness, eye dryness, most dryness, headaches, etc.
“Heat above, Cold below,” as we call it, which really just means the “cold” or weak microbiome has caused substances that should have descended as stool or urine to rise in the form of inflammation and harass upper portions of the body. One of the most signature symptoms of a shao yang pathology is the experience some have of alternating heat and cold sensations. So, while we can probably blame much of spring’s recently more chaotic, unpredictable nature on global warming, there is systemic logic to it. We might even acknowledge that in spite of our ongoing environmental crisis, spring is still the only season that consistently behaves so erratically. And erratic… is shao yang. Even the “shao yang pulse,” is signified by being ever-changing. One minute it feels wiry and rapid under the clinician’s finger—the next it’s like a slippery little ball. As my teacher would say: “This person is ‘shao yang’.”
How to temper our internal and external shao yang challenges? Simple and same as always really: Warm, easily digestible foods, and early bedtimes.
Soups and stews, congees, eggs, and steamed vegetables are light on the gut. They should generate healthy metabolic fluids and are less likely to create inflammation. This will address the “cold below.” As for the “heat above,” early bedtimes will modulate neurotransmitters and maximize the kind of organ recovery that can be attained only through a good night’s sleep (and/or Chinese herbs).
Err on wardrobe for the calendar more than the forecast, obviously within reason. Our bodies are still considered “cold” from the half year of cold, so all the youthful “heat pathologies” walking around outside in cut-off belly shirts cut low again on top will be more vulnerable to viruses.
Exercise should be consistent, but moderate. Regular enough to quell the heat above, but mindful to not sweat so much as to weaken the cold below. If you’re aiming to have the beach body ready for summer, the best way is by avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar, and raw foods, along with mild core workouts.
Finally, the wood element of spring is most supported by the sour flavor, so this is a good time of year to add foods like lemon and vinegar to your daily intake. Although they are uncooked, pickled foods, such as sauerkraut or kimchi are good to have alongside your warm meal, as they help to prevent the “shao yang stomach.”
Happy Shao Yang Season, everyone!
Tips for Resting & Digesting (food)
It’s nice to eat nice foods—expensive and high quality foods—organic foods, locally grown, homemade, etc. But it isn’t just about what we eat, but how we eat, that will maximize the conversion of our food into nutrients, which will convert into globally good health.
Whether you use your hands or utensils is up to you and your social circle, but across the board everyone advises chewing our food until it is liquefied in our mouths. This is for the same rationale that Eastern medicines recommend warm and cooked foods—they are easier to digest. Whenever I bribe my toddler with dark chocolate, cheese, or bread, she’s suddenly lightning fast at shoveling two handfuls of vegetables into her mouth in anticipation of her treat; my wife and I have to remind her, almost like a cheerleading chant: “Chew, chew, chew!” “Mastica!”
Each organ channel has its many correspondences, to particular seasons, colors, of the five elements, as well as shapes. The spleen and stomach are ruled by circles (and the color yellow), which means the ideal way to eat and digest is at a roundtable (of loved ones), I suppose with a yellow tablecloth. Ironically, such interior design would likely make my wife vomit.
The point is, we supposedly metabolize our foods that much better when seated surrounded by the company of loved ones. This might explain why many cultures that are known more for their tight-knit communities than their health-conscious diets, live late into life before experiencing any ailments or disease.
Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, is the parasympathetic nervous system cliche of “rest and digest.” It’s not in our power to have a big family meal 21 times a week. Most of us are super busy, eating on the go, if not at least shoving the last bite of food into our mouths like my daughter, before standing up to pay the check, throwing our coats on, and rushing back to work. Unfortunately, in such cases, one will likely absorb only about half of the nutrients they otherwise would have had they just sat for 10-20 minutes after finishing. Needless to say, over time this can be dangerous.
My understanding is it should take at least 15 minutes to eat our food, plus 15 minutes afterwards to sit and digest. Depending on our energy levels, this can be followed by either a 15-minute walk or a 15-minute cat nap, as they do in Europe (though theirs’ is more like an hour). My wife told me about a study that contrasted the blood sugar levels in two groups against one another after eating identical meals, where the one that took 20 minutes to eat it showed a much lower glucose spike than the one that ate the same food rapidly.
On my busy days, which is every day, I try to make a habit of looking at the clock after my last bite and not allowing myself to get up until at least 15 minutes later. Although the general consensus is it is bad to look at screens while eating, my opinion is it is better to use the phone for a few minutes to bide the digestive time window than it is to get up and physically rush out.
Work-induced stress and anxiety compromises our health enough without allowing it to directly interfere with our organs and metabolism. I encourage everyone to take the 30 minutes three times every day to properly rest and digest!
