Black or Blue-Black Foods: Excellent Sources of Ultimate Black Food Nutrition During Winter Plus Bonus Cocktail Recipe

Chinese medicine’s health encyclopedia, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor (the Neijing Suwen), discusses the corresponding relationship among all the fives of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): seasons, elements, organs, flavors, moods/emotions, colors, and more.

The Yellow Emporer’s Classic tells us how to create and keep harmony of body, mind and spirit during the natural cycles of each energetic season of TCM. The color TCM associates with energetic Winter is blue-black. And one way to be harmonious with Winter is through the food we consume, especially black and blue-black foods.

Energetic Winter runs from November 8 to January 17.

And the Neijing Suwen advises we consume black foods.

TCM principles tell us:

• black foods are the best for Winter,

• green foods for Spring,

• red foods for Summer,

• yellow foods for late Summer, and

• white foods for Autumn.

Black foods tend to be rich in inorganic salt and melanin:

• Inorganic salt helps promote fluid metabolism and it’s a detoxifer.

• Melanin helps restrict nitrosamine (a carcinogenic compound) thus preventing

Foods containing carcinogenic nitrosamines include:

• cured meats

• cooked bacon

• beer

• some cheeses

• nonfat dry milk and,

• occasionally, fish.

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Antioxidants abound in naturally occurring black and blue-black foods.

We age faster when cells oxidate and mutate. And antioxidants very importantly slow the aging process.

Black, deep purple, and nearly black foods contain lots of antioxidants. We overlook using them in our meal preparation. But they’re just as nutritious as the green produce we all commonly accept as ultra healthy. 

“Black foods have more antioxidants than light-colored foods because of their high pigment content.” –Cy Lee, Ph.D., professor of food chemistry at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Anthocyanins contribute to the blue-black pigment.

Black foods abound in natural plant pigments called anthocyanins (derived from Greek meaning flower [antho] and blue [cyan]). Anthocyanins are what makes cherries red, blueberries blue, and blackberries black. 

Actually, most black foods are blue-black or almost black. The darker the pigment of the food, the more present are anthocyanins.

Anthocyanins belong to the flavonoid class of molecules and are essentially, antioxidants.

The seed coat of black soybeans, for example, contains the highest recorded amount of anthocyanins.

Anthocyanins actually prevent ultraviolet damage and oxidation of the plant. They protect the body against free radicals and major chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Balance different types of food during energetic Winter with an emphasis on black and blue-black foods.

During energetic Winter, balance your black food intake with yellow-orange vegetables, tubers and gourds. Emphasize eating warming foods. Warming foods tend to be yang energy foods. They promote circulation and metabolism and influence the body upwardly and outwardly.

Energetic Winter’s the perfect time for stews and soups. Incorporate many of the below listed ingredients easily into your one-pot meals, especially black garlic, black lentils or beans, eggplant and black polished rice.

Some health benefits of anthocyanin in black or nearly black foods include:

• combatting and prevention of cancer

• anti-aging effect

• reduced risk of hardening of the arteries

• more efficient fat burning metabolism

• decreased cholesterol and improved blood circulation

These Super Nutritious Black Foods Contribute to Health, Disease Prevention While Making Meals Tantalizing.

• black sea salt (also known as Kala Namak): contains high sulphur content very good for skin

• black pepper: stimulates food digesting enzymes

• black tea: loaded with age mitigating antioxidants

• black polished rice, also called ‘forbidden rice’ because it once was reserved solely for the Chinese emperor and royal family; with loads of vitamin E for immune system support and eye health, anthocyanins, and antioxidants; rich in anthocyanins and more fibrous than white rice

• black lentils: loaded with iron and great source of protein; lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugar, help increase energy and facilitate weight loss

• blackberries: may help reduce cognitive decline in older age; fiber rich

• black currants: piquant deep purple black currants grow on a woody shrub in Central and Northern Europe and offer an entire array of nutrients not found anywhere else; abundant in anthocyanins and antioxidants; antimicrobial (a story goes that French monks produced black currant liqueur to use for medical reasons such as treating snakebites); immune system strengthening; good for flu symptoms and soothing sore throats; used to create Crème de Cassis liqueur also nutritionally beneficial; some nutritional supplement companies also manufacture encapsulated black currant oil.

• black beans: full of bioflavonoids that protect against cancer

• black soybeans and black soy yogurt: high in isoflavones (a class of phytochemical) and a type of phytoestrogen or plant hormone resembling human estrogen in chemical structure; found to be beneficial in treating womens’ health issues like breast cancer, hot flashes, and the discomfort caused by premenstrual and menopausal symptoms

• black quinoa: though quinoa originated in the Andes, a pair of Colorado farmers experimentally planted quinoa on their farm in the late 80s only to discover that after several months not only did the quinoa thrive, it had somehow cross-bred with the North American grain lamb's quarter to create a new variety of black quinoa; crunchier, more fibrous and bears a stronger flavor than other quinoas not to mention the health benefits from the anthocyanin content; a complete protein; B vitamin rich; lots of dietary fiber, vitamin E, iron, phosphorous, magnesium and zinc.

• black sesame: enhances bone health and improves sound sleep; great source of essential fatty acids important for anti-aging 

• black wheat flour (also known as blé noir in French or buckwheat flour: crêperies in France offer “galettes de sarrasin” for lunch or dinner which are crêpes made with non-glutinous black buckwheat flour; buckwheat is actually not a grain but a seed from the rhubarb plant family.

• black vinegar: made from brown rice; believed to help lower blood pressure

• black fungus (also known as wood ear): rich in iron and vitamin K, regular consumption can help prevent atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

• black garlic: contains twice the antioxidant level of fresh garlic; made by heating whole bulbs of garlic over the course of several weeks, a process that results in black cloves; process appears to double its antioxidant content

• eggplant: packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals

• kelp: a major source of iodine, kelp helps regulate the thyroid gland

• black mission figs: anti-cancer, fiber-rich, antibacterial

It may take some creativity to find some of the richly hued black and blue-black foods on this list. Go beyond your local grocery store and venture into health food and ethnic grocery stores, especially Asian, and the internet.

Bonus recipe for the cocktail known as Kir Royale using Crème de Cassis made from ultra healthy black currants:

Pour one part Crème de Cassis liqueur into a champagne flute; add four parts Mumm or Perrier Jouêt Champagne (or any of your favorite champagnes); garnish with a twist of lemon or a sprig of berries and enjoy.

The Kir became popular in French cafés in the mid-nineteenth century and was popularized by Felix Kir. Shortly after World War II, the mayor of Dijon, Burgundy, France, served the Kir often to promote his region's fine products (wine and Crème de Cassis). You can use any favorite white wine to make a Kir and there are many variations, so have fun exploring the one that suits you best.

…

Sources:

http://www.rd.com/food/fun/skip-the-greens-6-healthy-and-trendy-black-foods/

http://www.naturalnews.com/040968_black_tea_chronic_inflammation_foods.html

https://dailyhealthpost.com/top-7-black-foods-with-powerful-health-benefits/

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20471231,00.html

Hou, Joseph P. Ph. D. Healthy Longevity Techniques: East-west Anti-Aging Strategies. Authorhouse, 2010. Print.

Healthiest Fall Foods Are White Foods

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), color doesn’t only reflect the energy of each of the five energetic seasons. Color indicates ways and gives us clues about how we can live in harmony with the season. TCM’s colors of energetic Fall are blue (yang energy) and silvery white (yin energy aspect).

The colors for all five seasons of TCM are:

• Spring: warm green and teal

• Summer: red and purple

• Between seasons(1): yellow and ochre

• Fall: blue and silver white

• Winter: deep violet and black.

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White foods are Fall Foods.

White foods will help fortify your health during energetic Fall.

The white foods we mention here we suggest as complements to your diet or as seasonal replacements for certain fruits and vegetables.

TCM is all about balance so keep this concept in mind when you’re in the throes of Fall food prep. And just because white foods are optimal during Fall, don’t eat white foods to the exclusion of most others.

The organs of Fall in TCM are lung (yin) and large intestine (yang).

Our skin is so closely associated with the element of the season, Metal, and particularly associated with the lungs that TCM refers to the skin as our third lung. Lung needs to be strong enough to keep the dryness-causing wind out during Fall.

White foods nourish the lungs. TCM considers white foods clear foods which are very beneficial for skin and for nourishing the lungs at a time when our bodies need good lung energy the most. 

Pear is just about as efficient as apple in Autumn. Its nature is cold and nourishing, balancing the yang in our bodies and helping to prevent dryness and coughing. Its properties are particularly activated when adding white flesh pear to warm soups.

White or snow fungus is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of China and is very nourishing to the skin. It can also help reduce lung damage caused by smoking. It has a refreshing taste and is best used in sweet soups along with pear mentioned above.

Some flower bulbs can be eaten and are enormously nutritious. The lily bulb is one of them. These bulbs can be gathered in Autumn, cleaned and sun-dried. The lily bulb’s nature is moist and it helps to pacify emotional anxiety and uneasiness as we transition from one season to the next. Consume sun-dried lily bulb with white fungus and honey or sautéed with garlic and celery.

Lotus seed has strong properties for healing colds and reducing fevers. Use less than a handful of lotus seeds (purchased in Chinese grocery stores and pharmacies) and make a warm, sweet soup with the above-mentioned ingredients (pear, white fungus and lily bulbs). Cook all together with some crystallized cane sugar (not common refined sugar) on low heat.

The water chestnut is very good for clearing the lungs and again, very beneficial for people who smoke. 

White beans are very detoxifying and rich in minerals. They also contain a little known trace mineral, molybdenum responsible for manufacturing a number of detoxifying enzymes. They fight against the storage of energy as body fat and their high antioxidant content provides anti-aging properties.

Abounding in vitamin C, lotus root helps to maintain the integrity of blood vessels, organs and skin. (Vitamin C is both antioxidant and an important component of collagen.) Lotus root can be steamed, stewed or fried.

To treat dryness that comes with Autumn, here is a more exhaustive list of white foods that can be very effective. They can help clear heat, promote fluid production and moisten the lung.

• almonds

• apple

• bamboo shoots

• cauliflower

• hempseed kernels

• jicama

• sun-dried lily bulb

• lotus root

• lotus seed

• pear

• pine nuts

• rice

• tofu

• water chestnut

• white bean

• white fish

• white fungus

• white mushrooms

• white radish

• winter melon

…

Endnote:

(1) Between seasons relates to the four 18-day transitional periods of the year sandwiched between each of the four major seasons. Earth is the element of these between seasons periods of the year.

Source:

Liu, Zhan-Wen, et al. Health Cultivation in Chinese Medicine. Peoples Medical Publishing House (PMPH), 2012.

30 Fun Ways to Get More Green Into Your Diet

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) tells us the Spring energetic season (February 5 to April 17) is all about the sprouting of new life. TCM assigns two shades of green to Spring’s element of Wood: warm green (yang) and bluish green (yin). And during energetic Spring it’s important to nourish our bodies with life-giving, detoxifying green.

Not everyone enjoys green leaves and vegetables but what follows are a number of novel and fun ways to make sure you amp up your diet with green and enjoy the deliciousness of it too!

While most of these ideas provide ways to creatively add greens and green foods to your entrees and side dishes, don’t be afraid to make green the main event!

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1. Scramble your eggs with cooking greens or add them to your frittata.

2. Add fresh fruit like strawberries to make your highly nutritious spinach salad more interesting.

3. Make a batch of green pesto to have on hand for adding to dishes like pasta or for garnishing dishes like scrambled eggs, soup or roasted veggies.

4. Learn to sprout! It’s so easy to do right in your kitchen with some mason jars, cheesecloth and sprouting seeds. In just a couple days you’ve got green sprouts absolutely brimming with nutrition that you can add to salads, add as soup garnishes or throw in your smoothies.

5. Learn to identify wild edible greens and pick them. Some might be in your backyard or favorite local forest preserve.

6. Everybody loves nuts and seeds so add them to your salads. Not only will they provide texture but lots of nutrition too.

7. Add a handful of spinach or other green to your favorite smoothie to make it green. We suggest spinach ‘cause it won’t alter the flavor intent of your smoothie.

8. Garnish your soups with parsley or cilantro.

9. Never miss adding a beautiful green leaf to your sandwiches. Experiment. Go beyond iceberg or romaine lettuce.

10. Garnish your sandwich plate or even top your salad with dehydrated kale chips. Depending on the sauce massaged into the kale before dehydrating, kids will love eating them instead of potato chips.

11. Add a handful of fresh basil, leaves and stems, to your blenderized soups for a subtle flavor enhancement and nutrition boost.

12. Add green legumes like pea pods and green beans to your side dishes for color, texture and vitality.

13. Learn to make a mean tabbouli. With the main ingredient being parsley, this minted salad is incredibly fresh tasting and you’ll feel so much better about yourself after eating it! You can sub quinoa for the bulgur wheat, if you prefer, and it will taste just as great.

14. Fold finely chopped parsley or spinach into your mashed potatoes or alfredo sauce.

15. Mush some not overcooked broccoli into side dishes for texture, flavor and nutrition.

16. Make some avocado topped toast or spread your toast with a mélange of peas tossed with a small amount of olive oil, quartered grape tomatoes, and edamame. Avocado toast is a current wellness trend!

17. Add shaved or grated courgette (zucchini) into your salad.

18. Have a nice spinach salad or other green leaf salad for breakfast. It’s a fantastic way to start the day.

19. Explore fresh green herbs (oregano, rosemary, basil, dill, cilantro, chervil, chives, tarragon) and learn how to add them to your dishes for an added dimension of healing and flavor.

20. Make green bean “fries” for an awesome snack. Toss washed whole green beans with a bit of olive oil, and then garlic granules, salt and pepper to taste, and munch!

21. Make your wrap sandwiches raw wraps using collard greens, bibb lettuce or swiss chard leaves; you can do the same when making tacos, too.

22. When puréeing your homemade hummus, throw in a half cup of spinach; it will lend a green hue to the hummus and give you added nutrition, but it won’t alter the flavor of the hummus.

23. Top your burger with lightly sautéed greens.

24. Make green dips; spinach-artichoke is always nice.

25. Make simple homemade green salad dressings in your blender; throw six to eight dandelion greens in the blender along with a cup of soaked raw cashews, a half cup of soaked raw sunflower seeds, a cup of water, a squirt of lemon juice, a half teaspoon of turmeric and Himalayan salt to taste and blend until smooth. Delish.

26. Double the amount of green vegetables and half the amount of animal protein in your dishes.

27. Be a sneaky chef; purée some greens and add them to marinara sauce or grate or finely mince the greens and add them to your burger and meatloaf mix.

28. Wilt your greens like spinach, arugula, mustard and dandelion greens; you can add them to your favorite dish or eat them straight with a little salt and pepper and a dash of olive oil.

29. Slightly blacken bundles of bok choy, broccoli or asparagus spears for a unique taste and nutrition treat.

30. Consume blue-green algae like spirulina or aphanizomenon flos aquae before or after meals or even before bed.

Best Foods to Eat During Energetic Spring

Even after energetic Spring begins February 5 (according to traditional Chinese medicine [TCM]), we still experience the remnants of the Water energy of Winter. Though TCM says Spring has arrived which is the new energy of the Wood element, it's challenging to think Spring.

TCM tells us we can enjoy our best health and vitality when we live in balance with the change of the five energetic seasons and their corresponding elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water).

As humans, we exist an inherent part of nature. It makes sense to live in balance with nature to enjoy our best life.

Embrace the following attributes, characteristics and specific organ activity for the Wood element and Spring season.

If you’re affected by liver problems (the organs associated with Spring are liver and gall bladder), it’s a sign your body may be suffering from insufficient or lack of Wood chi.

You can strengthen your Wood chi by consuming more Wood element foods which tend to be sour in taste (sour is the taste for the Wood element). Sour foods facilitate clearing an overburdened liver.

Wood element foods act as astringents and help the blood to circulate, your energy to flow, and emotions to move more elegantly through you.

Eating fresh greens during this season naturally cleanses the body of physical and emotional impediments. 

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Wood element foods are cooling and contracting and prevent leakage of body fluids. If you’ve been indulging in a rich, greasy diet, you’ll want to switch to the Wood element foods at this time. 

Refer to the exhaustive list of Wood foods below.

Additionally, there are some herbs and spices we can use in springtime food prep that have a sour taste: dill, sour jujube fruit, and hawthorn berry.

Certain pungent and sweet foods such as scallion, garlic, cinnamon, fennel and ginger tend to have an expansive, rising quality. They are very nice to add to springtime meals and will help you resist colds and allergies.

As always, avoid or reduce consumption of foods and drinks that have little redeeming value for the body such as deep fried foods, oil, fat (aside from the more beneficial oils and fat content derived from olive, avocado and coconut), salty foods, spicy foods, alcohol, and sweets.

While we slow cooked our food in Winter by preparing stews and hearty soups, best cooking methods for the Spring energetic season are sauté, stir fry, light simmer, blanch, quick boil, pickle, and marinate.

At this time of year, our diet should be the lightest to enable our systems to cleanse and strengthen the body, mind and spirit.

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Best Foods for Wood Element (in alphabetical order)

• adzuki beans

• almonds

• baby spinach

• barley

• black cherry

• black currant

• blackberry

• celery

• cheese

• chicken

• chives

• cod

• collard greens

• grapefruit

• green beans

• green cabbage

• green tea

• halibut

• hazelnuts

• herring

• leafy greens

• lemon

• lettuce

• lime

• liver

• long string beans

• napa cabbage

• nuts

• oats

• olives

• peas

• pickles

• pineapple

• plums

• raspberry

• rose hips

• rye

• sauerkraut

• scallions

• sour grapes

• sour green apples

• sour green star fruit

• sourdough

• spinach

• sprouts

• tomatoes

• vinegar

• walnuts

• wheat

• yogurt

“Adapting itself to obstacles and bending around them, Wood in the earth grows upward without haste and without rest. Thus too the superior man is devoted in the character and never pauses in his progress.”  – Nei Jing (475-221 B.C.)

 …

Sources:

Nguyen, Phil N. Feng Shui for the Curious and Serious. New Jersey: Xlibris Corporation, 2008. Print.

Thunderhawk, Denise, L. Ac. The 5-Element Guide to Healing with Whole Foods. N.p.: Lulu, 2016. Print.

More Than A Dozen Oh So Nutritious Black Foods for Winter

Traditional Chinese medicine’s (TCM’s) health encyclopedia, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor (Neijing Suwen), gives clear guidance about how to live in harmony with each energetic season and its corresponding element (Spring-Wood, Summer-Fire, between seasons-Earth, Fall-Metal and Winter-Water).

The Medical Classic teaches us about the relationships of all the fives: seasons, elements, organs, flavors, moods, colors and more. It wisely instructs us in the ways of maintaining equilibrium of body, mind and spirit during the natural cycles of each energetic season.

The color is black for the energetic season of Winter which runs from November 8 to January 17.

So how do we harmonize with Winter with the color black?

One way is through the food we consume during this time.

Believe it not, the Neijing Suwen prescribes the consumption of black foods. In Chinese medicine, black foods are the best for Winter, green foods for Spring, red foods for Summer, yellow foods for late Summer and white foods for Autumn.

Black foods tend to be rich in inorganic salt and melanin. Inorganic salt can help promote fluid metabolism and it is a detoxifer. Melanin can help restrict nitrosamine (a carcinogenic compound) and thus prevent cancer.

FYI: foods containing nitrosamines include cured meats, primarily cooked bacon, beer, some cheeses, nonfat dry milk and occasionally fish.

We’ve included an interesting list of black foods in the next column along with just a smattering of their bountiful health benefits. One thing you’ll notice is a common thread running through these foods: antioxidants! Black, deep purple, nearly black foods contain lots of them!

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Black foods tend to be overlooked in our diets and are just as nutritious as eating green foods which are already commonly accepted as ultra healthy. 

Black foods abound in natural plant pigments called anthocyanins (derived from Greek meaning “flower” and “blue”). This is what makes cherries red, blueberries blue, and blackberries black. Actually, most black foods are blue-black or almost black. The darker the pigment of the food, the more anthocyanins are present. Anthocyanins belong to the flavonoid class of molecules and are essentially, antioxidants. The seed coat of black soybeans contains the highest recorded amount of anthocyanins.

During energetic Winter, balance your black food intake with yellow-orange vegetables, tubers and gourds. Put the emphasis on eating warming foods. Warming foods tend to be yang, promoting circulation and metabolism and placing an upward, outward influence on the body.

Now’s the perfect time for stews and soups. Many of the following ingredients can be incorporated into your one-pot meals, especially black garlic, black lentils or beans, eggplant and black polished rice. Have fun! Yum!

Some health benefits of anthocyanin in black or nearly black foods: 

• Combatting and prevention of cancer

• Anti-aging effect

• Reduced risk of hardening of the arteries

• A more efficient fat burning metabolism

• Decreased cholesterol and improved blood circulation

14 Nutritious Black Foods That Satisfy and Contribute to Preventive Health:

1. Black sea salt (also known as Kala Namak): high sulphur content is very good for your skin

2. Black pepper: stimulates food digesting enzymes

3. Black currant: immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory

4. Black tea: loaded with antioxidants

5. Black polished rice or Forbidden rice: loads of vitamin E for immune system

6. Black soybeans (also known as kuromame): enormous anthocyanin content; see health benefits of anthocyanins below

7. Black lentils: loaded with iron

8. Blackberries: may help reduce cognitive decline in older age and fiber rich

9. Black beans: full of bioflavonoids that protect against cancer

10. Black sesame: enhances bone health and helps you sleep better

11. Black fungus (also known as wood ear),: rich in iron and vitamin K, regular consumption can help prevent atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

12. Black garlic: contains twice the antioxidant levels as fresh garlic; it is made by heating whole bulbs of garlic over the course of several weeks, a process that results in black cloves, a process which appears to double its antioxidant content

13. Eggplant: packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals

14. Kelp: a major source of iodine, kelp helps regulate the thyroid gland

15. Black mission figs: anti-cancer, fiber-rich, antibacterial

…

Sources:

http://www.rd.com/food/fun/skip-the-greens-6-healthy-and-trendy-black-foods/

http://www.naturalnews.com/040968_black_tea_chronic_inflammation_foods.html

https://dailyhealthpost.com/top-7-black-foods-with-powerful-health-benefits/

Hou, Joseph P. Ph. D. Healthy Longevity Techniques: East-west Anti-aging Strategies. Authorhouse, 2010. Print

Best Eating Practices for the Time Between Energetic Seasons: October 21 to November 7

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we can best nourish our spleen and stomach by consuming the natural sweetness of grains, fruits and vegetables. The best time to consume these is during the period between the energetic seasons of Fall and Winter. In TCM, we call this the Earth period. There are four Earth periods in the year. The autumnal Earth period runs from October 21 to November 7.

The taste associated with the season of Earth is sweet.

The climate associated with Earth is damp.

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Earth’s two yin and yang organs are (yin) spleen and (yang) stomach.
 
TCM explains that the spleen’s principal function is transforming food and drink into vital energy and blood. It distributes the chi (vital energy) and blood throughout the body.
 
In spite of the benefits most will realize eating sweet grains, fruits and vegetables, Earth types have a tendency to overeat as well as a tendency to gravitate to sweets. Earth types should be careful with this because it can disturb their overall balance of chi.
 
If you have a tendency to overeat, these tips may help you:

1. To curb the appetite, drink lots of water during the day which will increase the bulk of the food you have eaten while softening the food particles making them easier to digest.

2. Drink the bulk of your water in between meals.

3. Drink room temperature water.

4. Avoid icy beverages.

5. Consume smaller, more frequent meals.

6. Take small portions and eat slowly.

7. Take small second helpings if you’re still hungry.

8. Increase consumption of whole foods: grains, fruits, vegetables. You will feel full, they digest much more easily, and your body will absorb fewer calories.

9. Substitute fruit for sweet desserts. Figs, pears, persimmons, pomegranate seeds, grapes and, of course, apples are wonderful sweet fruits available at this time of year.

10. Stabilize blood sugar levels with legumes (lentils, chick peas, split peas, kidney beans, soybeans, fava beans) and root vegetables (carrots, celery, onions, turnips, parsnips, radishes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes).

11. Take the burden off your stomach and intestines by avoiding fatty foods, in particular, dairy products and red meat. Dairy and red meat are difficult to digest and create dampness caused by mucus in the system.

12. Eliminate dampness in your system by dry condiments like ginger, cinnamon, garlic, pepper, parsley, and cardamom. They support digestion and increase metabolism. They also help to reduce gas, water retention, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea and stomach pain.

The tendency of imbalanced Earth energy is to worry excessively. The worst fear of the Earth type is deprivation, most especially deprivation of relationships which are so important to Earth types. Often, when a relationship ends or is in stress, Earth types will resort to food to fill the emptiness and soothe the pain they feel. Many will even gorge themselves with food yet still feel an emptiness that cannot be completely filled.

It’s important to have a toolkit of practices in place so that when the going gets rough like this, we can rely on these tools rather than large amounts of food.

These tools could include:

• Relying on a trusted friend to share your feelings with

• A strong spiritual foundation

• A “go to” book of very powerful inspiration both in hard copy book form and audio format

• A memorized poem or passage of sacred text you can immediately pivot to to shift your mood

• A developed practice of meditation

• A small arsenal of mantras you can incant for quick relief and comfort.

…

Source:

Elias, Jason, and Katherine Ketcham. Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity: Understanding the Five Elemental Types for Health and Well-being. New York: Three Rivers, 1998. Print

Best Eating Practices for Energetic Fall

Any time we come to the conclusion of an energetic season in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it’s smart to check in with your diet. Make sure you're aligning your eating practices with the season. When you live in harmony with the spirit of the season and nature, you’ll live a more vibrant life.

In the case of energetic Fall, observe the season. Notice that our natural environment is beginning to slow down and contract. It’s preparing to rest for the Winter. 

If we choose to align ourselves with nature’s current seasonal behaviors, we’ll slow down, too. We’ll sleep a little longer, become a little more contemplative and inwardly focused and we’ll eat warming, nourishing foods, especially foods that nourish the lungs, the organ associated with Fall. 

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Best eating practices for energetic Fall include eating lung clearing and moistening foods (lung is the organ associated with the season) like apples, pears and persimmons. Sounds like it’s time for some fresh baked pie!

Foods with gently pungent flavors strengthen the lungs and should be balanced with sour foods which work to protect the skin against attack from the winds of Autumn. 

Gently pungent flavors come from herbs and spices like basil, coriander, bay leaves, capers, cardamom, chives, cinnamon, cloves, dill, fennel, ginger, oregano, nutmeg, rosemary, safflower, thyme, and turmeric. More powerful pungent flavors such as white pepper, garlic, chilies, onions and horseradish are best to use sparingly at this time. Gently pungent vegetables include cabbage, leeks and turnips.

Sour foods to balance the pungent might include sauerkraut, sour plums and apples, olives, pickles, lemons, limes, grapefruit and yogurt.

The Fall energetic season is the time when we may tend to eat less salads and raw foods while cooking our food at low temperatures for longer periods of time. For example, steam your food rather than do a quick stir fry. Or make some hearty, slowly cooked and simmered stews and soups that include navy and lima beans which are very good for the lungs. Begin phasing in to your soups and stews root vegetables which we will soon even more heartily use in the Winter.

Using small amounts of Himalayan sea salt in your cooking will help alleviate dryness caused by windy Autumn.

Autumn is a time of establishing a rhythmic order. There is a downward energy, grounding our bodies, minds and even our food into the earth. It is the ideal time to focus on the colon as life energy contracts and will prepare for a dormant state in the winter. Autumn is associated with white, and also the time of year our “white” foods are at their peak. They are the digestives and immune boosting foods such as: apples, pears, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, and leeks.  – Kate Kennington, Holistic Health Coach

Here’s a list of supportive nourishing foods to incorporate into your best eating practices for Fall as we build our immune systems in preparation for Winter:

1. almonds

2. apples

3. apricots

4. asparagus

5. bananas

6. basil

7. bay leaves

8. black pepper

9. broccoli

10. cabbage

11. capers

12. cardamom

13. cauliflower

14. celery

15. cheese

16. chilies (sparingly)

17. chives

18. cinnamon

19. cloves

20. coriander

21. cucumber

22. dill

23. fennel

24. garlic (sparingly)

25. ginger

26. grapefruit

27. grapes

28. Himalayan salt

29. horseradish (sparingly)

30. leeks

31. lemons

32. limes

33. miso

34. mustard greens

35. navy beans

36. nutmeg

37. olives

38. onion (sparingly)

39. oregano

40. pears

41. persimmons

42. pickles

43. radish 

44. rice

45. rosemary

46. safflower

47. sauerkraut

48. sour plums

49. sourdough bread

50. soy beans

51. sweet potato

52. thyme

53. turmeric

54. turnips

55. vinegar

56. walnuts

57. white pepper (sparingly)

58. yogurt

A List of Foods to Eat for Glowing Skin (+Bonus Recipe!)

Make your skin glow with light enriched foods.

Sunlight puts light into food. That light, when consumed, radiates through the skin. If you want to be sure if the produce you’re eating is filled with light, there’s one rule of thumb: If it's green, you'll glow.

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Eating these is the same as ingesting life-promoting light:

• Sprouts (nice and green ones) including wheatgrass

• Dark, leafy greens

• Green algae: chlorella

• Blue green algae: spirulina and aphanizomenon flos aqua (AFA)

• Seaweeds

• Ceremonial grade match green tea

• Other green teas

Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in all plants, algae and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Vital for photosynthesis, chlorophyll allows plants to obtain energy from light by converting the sun’s rays into chemical energy. Since all life on earth—with the exception of some bacteria—is supported by the sun, photosynthesis is a fundamental and essential process.

A More Complete List of Chorophyll-Rich Foods:

• Green and Blue-Green Algae

• Cereal Grasses (wheat, oats, barley, etc.)

• Buckwheat

• Sea Vegetables

• Green Leafy Sprouts

• Spinach

• Asparagus

• Green Bell Peppers

• Broccoli

• Brussels Sprouts

• Green Cabbage

• Celery

• Collard Greens

• Green Beans

• Green Peas

• Kale

• Leeks

• Green Olives

• Parsley

• Romaine Lettuce

• Sea Vegetables

• Swiss Chard

• Turnip Greens

How to Make Matcha Green Tea Latte

First, make your own almond milk from raw imported (not U.S.) almonds by blending one cup of drained and rinsed almonds that have previously been soaked in pure water at least four hours along with two cups of chilled pure water. Run in a high speed blender about 45 seconds. Next, pour through a nut bag to filter out the almond pulp.

Place 3/4 cup of your fresh-made almond milk (or store bought) into a heatproof mug. Add one teaspoon of ceremonial grade matcha green tea. Next pour just-to-boiling water, about 1/4 cup and WHISK briskly together. Add some raw blue agave to sweeten and to taste.

Note: Ceremonial grade matcha green tea is worth what you pay for it. (The lesser grades are used for cooking.)

"Many studies have determined that matcha has 60 percent Epigallocatechin gallate [EGCG]. EGCG is tea's most abundant antioxidant catechin; it is one hundred times more potent than vitamin C, twenty-five times more potent than vitamin E, and may have therapeutic applications in the treatment of many disorders since it aids in the destruction of free radicals." –The Healthy Matcha Cookbook

Matcha is just about the most potent agent against cancer, viruses (studies are now showing even HIV), hepatitis B and C, and bacteria.

Top Cooling Foods of Summer with Bonus Recipe

“The wise nourish life by flowing with the seasons and adapting to cold or heat, by harmonizing joy and anger in a tranquil dwelling, by balancing yin and yang, and what is hard and soft.”

— The Neijing Suwen, an ancient Chinese medical text that has been treated as the fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine for more than two millennia.

We have entered the energetic season of Summer and the Fire element (May 6 to July 9) according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

In the summer, we tend to naturally gravitate to cooling (yin) foods. Now is the time when local cooling organic fruits and vegetables are in abundance. If you eat in harmony with the season, you're going to feel and do better!

The warming and cooling properties of a food have less to do with actual temperature, cooking temperature, spiciness or even individual ingredients—and more to do with the food’s balance and contrast among ingredients and the effect of these on the body when the food is ingested. (http://bottomlineinc.com/yin-yang-foods-that-make-you-feel-better/)

Here's a list of Cooling Foods for the Summer Courtesy of ChineseMedicineLiving.com

1. Apricot

2. Cantaloupe

3. Watermelon

4. Strawberries

5. Tomatoes

6. Lemon

7. Peach

8. Cucumber

9. Orange

10. Asparagus

11. Sprouts

12. Bamboo

13. Bok choy

14. Broccoli

15. Chinese cabbage

16. Corn

17. White mushroom

18. Snow peas

19. Spinach

20. Summer squash

21. Watercress

22. Seaweed

23. Mung means

24. Cilantro

25. Mint

26. Dill

27. Bitter gourd

28. Mung beans

29. Wax gourd

30. Lotus root

31. Lotus seed

32. Job’s tears

33. Bean sprouts

34. Duck

35. Fish

Watermelon Cooler Recipe

• 2 cups watermelon flesh

• 1 cup young Thai coconut water (C2O brand in health food stores is good!)

• 1/4 cup lime juice

• raw blue agave to sweeten and to taste

Run a few seconds in a high speed blender with some ice and enjoy.