MAY 10 & May 24, 2004
FAVORITE SPRING ELIXIRS
My apartment has a soothing bitter-sweet fragrance. It is mushroom time in Chelsea. I live in a chic neighborhood that might be nicknamed Brunchville or the art capital of the north east. Eighth avenue is lined with French, Italian, Greek, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Japanese and Thai restaurants. Trendy clothing shops, beauty salons, and sleek boy toys are seen everywhere. It lacks the painted matrons and poodles of the upper east side and the tall impersonal buildings of midtown. Far from tourists waiting like sheep in front of select pastry shops, I raise cats, cook Chinese herbs, grow sprouts, and simmer rich mushroom brews to slenderize and energize during spring.
In the previous newsletter: AH, THE SPRING...I covered
huang lian (Coptis), which cleanses impurities and inflammation that underlie headaches, fevers, dizziness, allergies, complexion blemishes, ulcers, and urinary infections. I described a relaxing combination of gotu kola and
Siberian ginseng for a deep, calm sleep. This newsletter features herbs for people who are neither sick nor suffering but who want more out of life. It is meant for the wonder person, ever on the look-out to improve their quality of life.
It is mysterious how healing begins. Often love plays a part. A nice vacation or a good nights sleep also helps. Any change in our routine that allows for relaxation and reflection can start the ineluctable movement of vitality, which simultaneously grounds and relaxes and energizes us. The wonderful thing about working with Asian medicine is that its history is so long and rich there is always something new to discover. It offers so many ways to learn about ourselves and enjoy life.
When I wrote
Asian Health Secrets after I had practiced acupuncture for many years. The book details useful ways to observe your body and mind, recommends popular Chinese remedies, and details ways to know if the remedies are working effectively. It provides a basis of understanding that reveals a hidden art--the profound observation of our life force.
Personal Renewal came along at a time when I was caught in a whirlwind of change and needed guidance. I turned to Asian herbs for rejuvenation. It contains a calendar describing very useful herbs for each season. My third book
Healthy Beauty helps us look and feel our best. For that reason, it describes my passion for Asian medicinal mushrooms, which protect health, vitality, and immunity.
My healing began with a back injury. I refused pain drugs by using Chinese herbs that stir circulation and fortifying Asian mushrooms high in polysaccharides.
Ling zhi,
shiitake,
fu ling, The Vine Essence capsule, and others reduced pain, inflammation, joint and muscle swelling, and stiffness. Continuing those remedies for endurance, I gained the desire and strength to accomplish more. That is the key: Do not stop taking herbs because comfort returns. Use herbs to develop yourself into the person you never expected to become.
Several Chinese Mushroom Brews You can make these at home in a big ceramic coated cooking pot or slow cooker. Keep the brew on the stove for not longer than a day or store it in wine bottles in the refrigerator for two days. Use the best possible cooking water free of chemicals, lead, and other poisons. I rinse all fresh produce in clean water adding a drop of natural dish soup, some vinegar, and a potassium salt substitute to reduce pesticides. Dried Asian mushrooms may have dust so it pays to soak them in warm water for 15 minutes before thorough cooking.
Enjoy the brew all afternoon or evening separate from coffee or tea, which eliminate it from the body too quickly. Cooking mushrooms fills your house with a healing fragrance that is relaxing and centering. You feel real earthy from this stuff. Pretty soon you start to plant flower pots and exercise more regularly.
A Mild-tasting Shiitake and Fu Ling Brew This is so easy to make you will wonder how you lived without it so long. Rinse the dust off a big handful of dried shiitake and
fu ling in water for a few minutes. Use enough dried herbs to fill your cupped hands. Discard the liquid and put the mushrooms and fu ling into your pot or slow cooker, fill it with clean water and simmer this with low heat water for about 8 hours. That is it. Strain the brew. You can reuse the herbs a second time. Store the brew as described above and enjoy it for a smooth, steady, calm energy all day without a java jump.
Benefits of Shiitake and Fu Ling Brew
Do you have one or more of the following?
--- cellulite
--- chronic fatigue
--- swollen legs and ankles
--- frequent viral or bacterial infections
--- herpes
--- high cholesterol
--- palpitations
--- cancer or a high risk of it
--- compromised immunity
--- slow recovery from illness
If you marked any of them,
shiitake mushroom, one of the best tasting mushrooms available, is a good choice for you. Also called Xiang gu or Black Forest Mushroom, fresh shiitake can be found in many supermarkets.
Shiitake has a delicate nutty flavor that nicely complements scrambled eggs. I sometimes combine shiitake with fu ling (poria cocos) to reduce fat and water retention from the waist down to feet.
Fu ling is variously named China root, hoelen, and sclerotium of tuckahoe. The botanical name is Poria cocos. The sliced herb looks like rolled white paper about the size of a cigarette.
Fu ling is diuretic and highly recommended for what Chinese doctors call difficult urination. That might be straining from prostate swelling or other discomforts, including thick, oily, flaky or dark urine. Fu ling is helpful for diarrhea and edema, which is water retention especially in the middle, legs, and ankles.
Chinese doctors recommend fu ling for water retention--called Dampness--resulting from a weak spleen. You can recognize someone otherwise healthy who has a weak spleen. Often a women over 40, she has cellulite, a spare tire around the waist, a puffy face and sacks under the eyes. She may have gastric distress and bloating or stress diarrhea. She will likely have a vaginal discharge and possible yeast infections. She will crave sweets and be overweight. Most likely she will have low energy accompanied by self doubt resulting from chronic fatigue and poor concentration. Men with weak spleen may have the same symptoms especially a softness in the middle that looks as thought they have been drinking too much beer. They may not complain of gastric distress or cloudy thinking as often as women because they are not as connected to their body.
A weak spleen develops from overwork, a lack of exercise, a diet too rich in sweets, fats, and empty carbohydrates such as white rice, bread, pastries, and corn sweeteners in cola drinks and most packaged foods. Worry, stress, and illness increase the condition. Weak spleen leads to poor absorption, fragile capillaries and frequent bruising, puffy water logged legs, thick ankles, and sometimes heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, dizziness, and sinus headache. Observe a thick greasy coating on the tongue.
Cordyceps Cordyceps is considered a superior tonic, which means it helps the body to work at optimum capacity in a number of different ways. Some herbalists consider superior Chinese tonics to be panaceas such as ginseng. Other Chinese herbs are low grade when they have limited actions. For example, antibiotics, diuretics, and herbs that treat specific diseases. This is the opposite of western medicine which values antibiotics as high quality remedies and tends to mistrust tonics as fakes. More recently, healthfood store profits on the sale of herbal tonics have made drug companies prick up their ears.
Cordyceps sinensis (dong chong xia cao) means summer grass, winter worm--a strange name that indicates how the herb is made. It is also popularly called the caterpillar fungus because it is a sort of cocoon left behind after the tree parasite has left. The herb has antitumor activity and immune stimulant capacity. It treats lymphoma and a variety of other cancers. It inhibits leukemia in vitro.
Athletes use cordyceps regularly because it regulates heart action especially during stress. Long term use reduces cholesterol and strengthens the heart. It helps to relax bronchial passages facilitating deep breathing. Japanese research has shown that cordyceps dilates the aorta by 40% under stressful conditions. That can save life. Athletes use the herb to increase blood flow which helps them to push muscles to maximum capacity in order to enhance endurance. A 1985 clinical study reported in the Abstracts of Chinese Medicines from Jiangxi Hospital done with sexually dysfunctional and impaired men showed that 64% of them improved in performance from ingesting one gram per day.
Cordyceps improves heart, liver, lung, nervous system, and kidney functions. It also has antibacterial action, is an antioxidant, and regulates blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. It is an immune enhancer and mild sexual tonic. Older people can safely use it. Cordyceps defines the word adaptogin which means an herb that helps us to adapt to stress.
Cordyceps is rare and expensive. For that reason it should not be mixed with other foods that weaken or wash away its effects. Do not take it with coffee or tea. An old recipe is to cook it with duck soup without using salt. The best, easiest way to use it is in capsules. You can empty the capsule into your soup or take the recommended dose between meals or before bed. You will live a long time enjoying good health.
HERB OF THE WEEK
Is your head spinning from spring allergies? Do you have a sick headache? Do you feel car-sick even when sitting at home? Do you have morning sickness during pregnancy? You need
Curing Pills--a great way to settle your stomach and clear the dizzy, phlegmy feeling aggravated by pollution, stress, and spring humidity.
Avoid eating too many sweets, oils, empty carbs, and mucus producing foods during spring. It may upset your stomach and make you feel off center. If the room spins when you turn your head (Meniere syndrome), take a dose of
Curing Pills to bring back your balance. One dose is the contents of a small tube of red pills. The ingredients are digestive and antimucus. Ok for long-term use against nausea and diarrhea. It is recommended during pregnancy.
