Marrrow...the food of winter

Marrow

Marrow is a great food to nourish the kidneys. Kidney nourishing recipes include Osso Bucco, kidney organ itself, seaweed, fungus family and walnuts. Soups and stews are particularly good cooking methods for winter, as they cook meats by adding water resulting in tender and moisture-rich foods. 

I made this kidney-tonic stew which only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and it’s also gluten-free, Paleo and a great winter tonic! 

Ingredients:

• 10-15 mushrooms, cut in half
• 1 piece of Wood Ears fungus, cut or rip into small pieces.
• 1 or 2 pieces of Osso Bucco
• 1 “soup pack” of vegetables – Turnip,parsnip,onion,2-3 sticks of celery, carrot. Cut into a rough soup cut.
• 1 handful of seaweed strips or 3 pieces of nori sheets, cut up. 

Method:

1. Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and cover with water. 
2. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours (or overnight) OR cook on high for 2-3 hours first, then reducing heat to low for another few hours. 
3. Make sure there is plenty of water to cover ingredients throughout cooking. 
4. Season if needed with Pepper, and if your diet allows, salt. 

Winter

Winter

Seasons are a major aspect of Chinese medicine, they influence the ways in which we should live, and the kinds of illnesses that are prevalent in the various seasons. Winter is the season where things retreat, hibernate and rejuvenate. Just as the weather becomes cold, and nature retreats, our lifestyle should also change to suit the climate. 

I took this photo on one of my trips to the tea village in Changsha

Wearing warm clothing, avoiding the wind and protecting the lower back (which is known as the “kidneys house”) is an important way to maintain health. Kidney energy relates specifically to winter via the Water Element. Water is reflected in tranquillity, stillness, rejuvenation and gestation. It’s the Kidney energy that is directly influential in reproduction and fertility. Water energy accumulates in hibernation and rest, this should be encouraged during Winter with longer sleep time (go to bed later and get up later), resting during the day by lying down flat after lunch for about 20 minutes, and sweating less by engaging in non-sweat producing exercises like stretching and gentle walking. 

Generally winter is the season where we don’t need to do much exercise. Certainly opening the pores during sweating creates an easy-access path for External Pathogens like Wind-Cold to invade and cause colds and flu’s.

The primary focus of winter is to allow the body to rest, sleep and recover from any cold and flu’s, and avoid exposure to External pathogens. For healthy people, winter should be a season of storing up the nourishing Post-natal Kidney Essence (Jing). 

Click here for a winter recipe! 

Natures Pain Killers

Pain is a natural human experience, and it's not a pleasant one. As soon as we experience pain our next thought is "how can I stop it?"

In our search for some relief, why not turn to nature to try to alleviate some or all of the pain with natural relief? Essential oils, herbs, mental techniques, acupuncture and heat are all common and often cheap alternatives to drugs.

Before we delve into these natural solutions to treat pain, it's important to know the reason for the pain. Most of these natural alternatives are great for people who have already sought out medical help, and found there is either no "known cause" of the painful symptoms or the cause is untreatable and they are in a situation of managing the pain.

If the pain is acute (it just came on recently), it's something new, its getting worse and/or changing location to usual then it's important to seek medical advice. Visit your GP, registered professional health practitioner or go to the hospital if it's an emergency situation. In Australia we have a government health advice line you can ring and speak to a nurse who will assess if you need to go to emergency: 1800 022 222.

HEAT 

A great place to start to alleviate pain is heat. Heat makes blood vessels expand, getting more of the healing properties to the area you have heated up. Because too much blood with no movement can cause stagnation, it's best to use heat for 20 mins at a time, and follow up with some movement of the area or light massage around the area depending on the type of injury /pain you have.

MOXA

Moxa  is a type of herbal heat that is widely used in Chinese medicine. Moxa is a herb that has Blood moving properties, and is used by everyday people as well as practitioners to alleviate pain. In the clinic, you might see practitioners use moxa on acupuncture points with a stick or cones or even a moxa box. The wooden boxes are a great way to use the moxa at home for personal use. Tiger warmers - the metal stick device featured in the photo to the left, are a device designed to help people use the moxa stick on areas like the back, shoulders, limbs and abdomen to treat pain. We sell the tiger warmers and moxa boxes in our store, and our staff can assist you with help to learn how to use them.

Link to Moxa products on our Webstore just Below:
www.metrohealth.myshopify.com/moxa

ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential Oils are another favourite of mine for natural pain relief.

Frankincense, Clary Sage and Lavender is a good blend to soothe pain. Frankincense is a blood moving Chinese Herb - it's function is to move Blood stasis. Injuries will usually result in some degree of Blood stasis, so moving it will help speed up healing.

Frankincense and Clary Sage is great combination for period pain, back pain or pain from traumatic injuries. Lavender is soothing and is often used to help headaches. Apply directly or dilute and use with caution during pregnancy.

Heating Essential oils include Camphor, Menthol, Eucalyptus, Wintergreen - which are great for Arthritis or Joint pain (known or Cold/Damp Bi Zheng Syndrome in Chinese Medicine). Camphor and Menthol are common ingredients in well known "pain rubs" like tiger balm and deep heat. I once made a salt scrub using Wintergreen for a patient who suffered arthritis - in the shower they could scrub their body with the exfoliating scrub which left a soothing warming oily residue to moisturise and infuse the skin with the pain- reliving essential oils.


We have essential oils available in our Maylands Store and also online @ http://metrohealth.myshopify.com

MENTAL DISTRACTION

Finally, there is something great about mental distraction in managing chronic pain. You get what you foucs on...so if you have nothing else there but you and the pain, it will become worse due to it bieng your sole focus. Distract your mind by planning activities, watching a movie or TV, going for a walk if you can or even do a difficult puzzle or something else to take your mind off it.  Not all kinds of pain are suited to this method, but some pains, like period pain will actually benefit more from moving or standing than sitting and lying. Moving around might feel like the last thing you might feel like doing, however it's better to aid blood movement by standing and walking rather than sitting or lying down all day. Psychology, visualisation and hypnosis all contain powerful mind tools which experienced professionals can teach their clients how to better manage pain.

Of course, if pain gets worse, your symptoms change or your unsure of the cause you should see your Health Care Professional or go to the hospital in an urgent situation.

Lest We Forget

In Australia we are approaching ANZAC day on 25th April. This is a day of rememberance and thankfulness about those Australian soldiers fallen and those who gave their lives to serve in war times. ANZAC has always had a special meaning to our family, as my grandad, Eustace Mickle was a rat of Trobruk, in the past I have marched in rememberacnce of him, worn his medals and even been pushed in a pram by my mum and Anutie clipping the heels of the other ex-service men in the march!

Soldiers who fought for our freedom have brought us here, they fought for what we so easily enjoy now. For many of us our lives have been far from the fringe of war and we might not feel this on a personal level. Other people might have more influential in bringing us to where we are today.

Remembrance and reflection is a powerful thing for us as individuals and as a society. Why not use this ANZAC day as a chance to reflect on the sacrifice that people in your world, including the soldiers, who have brought you to where you are? How can we show our gratitude for the sacrifice?  

Because my blog is about Chinese medicine, I might mention that Chinese medicine considers refletion "Yi" to be part of the Spleen Energy. We digest thoughts as well as food through the Spleen's energy. Healthy digestion of thoughts such as creating time for rememberance
and reflection is part of a healthy person.