Autumn Recipies - Huang Qi Hotpot

This simple, Autumn Huang Qi Hotpot can be made as a soup or chowder-type casserole dish and can transition the body through the Autumn to winter seasons. Also It’s Paleo, Vegetarian and Vegan friendly, and gluten free.  

Season: Autumn, Winter

Flavours: Sweet

Element: EARTH

Purpose: Nourish the Spleen and Stomach,

Can be modified for Liver Energy (Qi) Stagnation, Dampness and Blood Deficency (xu).

Cooking style: slow cooking – moistening.

Prep Time: 15-20mins

Cooking Time: 3 to 8 hours in slow cooker.

The Sweet herb of Huang Qi (Astragalus) is a tonic to the Earth Element – the Spleen and Stomach Organs. Here, I’ve combined it with another similar herb that can be used in cooking called Dang Shen or Codonopsis. Dang Shen is similar to (Ren Shen) Ginseing, but much cheaper which makes it suitable for cooking. These two herbs are a tonic to the Spleen organ / Earth Element and are moisturising to your body which is great for the season of Autumn (associated with Dryness). Because these herbs are essentially bits of wood, you don’t want to eat them, so you can pick out of the mixture before serving or place in a muslin bag during the cooking process.

INGREDIENTS:

Root vegetables:

1 Sweet potato

1 small or half a big purple sweet potato

2-3 carrots*

1 onion, or purple onion*

1 small turnip*

1 small parsnip*

*alternately, buy a “soup pack” of veges from the fruit and vege store and use that plus the sweet potatoes.

METHOD.

Cut all vegies into chunks and place into the slow cooker.

2) Add a handful of Dang Shen and 3 strips of Huang Qi

3) cover with water, so water is almost covering the vegetables. Ensure the dry herbs are fully immersed in the water

4) Place on low heat overnight (for 6-8 hours) or high heat for 3-4 hours until vegetables are cooked.

5) Remove bits of Huang Qi and Dang Shen before eating.

Modifications:

Without moderation, this food is a bland, spleen tonic, It’s not intended to be too flavoursome. It’s perfect for someone who has the weak spleen energy or earth element. There is a little bit of pungent flavour coming from the onion and

For more flavour, ½ to 1 cup of chicken stock can be added and the same amount of water removed.

• For deficiency of WOOD ELEMENT or Blood (Xue), add the chicken stock as above and change the carrots to purple carrots if available.
• For Dampness, take out 1 of the sweet potatoes and add ½ cup of barley.
• For (Liver) Qi Stagnation, add more pungent flavours, Upon serving whilst piping hot, add fresh coriander and/or lots of fresh spring onions.

Marie Hopkinson, Metro Health and Medicine©

Tips For Going Sugar-Free

Tips For Going Sugar-Free 
- Marie Hopkinson

Trying to kick Refined sugar in your life? 

1) Go cold turkey - it’s better just to quit sugar, throw away your sugary
treats and spend a few days letting your body and mind adjust. Pick a time when things aren't too stressful. After a week, the cravings will significantly subside and your body will thank you enormously.

2) Remove temptation - throw away or put the chocolates and lollies out of sight so your not visually tempted.

3) Plan your treats. Quitting sugar doesn't mean you can’t have any treats. There are tons of sugar-free recipes online. Refined sugar replacements like maple syrup, coconut sugar, dried fruits, agave syrup can be used in cooking or making raw sweet treats. I recommend getting away from the sweet flavour as much as possible but having access to some of these in the first week or 2 will make it easier.

4) Look after your Spleen. The more you nurture your Spleen Energy, the less your body will crave sugar and the better you will feel.

Why Should I quit sugar? 

Sweet is the flavour of the spleen energy in Chinese medicine. It’s a very important organ for digestive processes. A small amount of sweet helps the Spleen, but too much can overwhelm the Spleen Qi (pronounced “chee”). When we crave sweet especially after eating a meal, it indicates the Spleen Qi is weak. (You will usually get diarrhoea or loose bowel movements, and see toothmarks on the tongue as well). Since the Spleen makes energy for your body to function, when it can’t diegest well, it can be a cause of tiredness.

Refined cane sugar overwhelms the Spleen energy. In a biomedical sense, this corelates with rise and subsequent drop of blood sugar levels. This gives you an instant burst of energy or buzz, followed by a low...usually lower than you felt before you ate the chocolate or lollies.

Sweet-natured foods that can nurture the Spleen energy include root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and unrefined, cooked grains like barley, rice and millet.

In a biomedical sense, theses foods have a low gylcemic index, which means they take longer to break down and don’t require the same biochemical reaction that refined sugary-sweet natured foods do. They won’t quickly spike and lower your blood sugar level.

The golden rule of Chinese diet therapy, and longevity practices in general is EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. Balance isn’t just a  token yin-yang symbol, but it’s a guiding key principal to achieve health and longevity in life.

FREE Sugar-Free RECIPES ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE

www.metrohealth.com.au 

Metro Health and Medicine

200 Whatley Crs 

Maylands, WA 6051

Mulberry Power

Mulberries are coming in season now in Australia. According to Chinese medicine they have really unique properties for a fruit.

Most fruits have a heat-clearing nature, but Mulberries are a tonic. They tonify the Kidney Energy (Qi) and Blood. These functions mean they are great food for:

- Helping hair growth
- Helping hair look lustrous and moisturised.
- General weakness, tiredness and low energy from deficiency.
- Helping the kind of insomnia of waking up in the night (especially when there is night sweating)

Mulberries are a special fruit because you can't buy them from a shop, so you need to pick them yourself, making their Qi (Energy) more potent because they are so fresh.

Try some mulberries for yourself and realize the power of this nutritious, medicinal food

Mulberries can be mixed with Chinese herbs for a really yummy tonic food - Go Qi Zi (GoJi Berries) and Da Zao (Red Dates) are medicinal foods.

Hangover Cures ...Chinese Medicine Style

Hangovers in Chinese medicine usually relate to a pattern of disharmony of toxic heat, food stagnation or a combination of dampness and heat. Basically Alcohol is heating and over-ingestion causes a toxic build up of heat. This heat stagnates and can lead to disturbance of the Spleen function. 

There are some classical mentions of foods which prevent or treat drunkenness & hangovers in Chinese medical literature...



Watermelon - Eating watermellon (flesh and/or also skin) whilst having a few beers might be a novel concept, but by trading your nuts for watermelon you can have a much better chance of waking up feeling less hungover. (Watermelon promotes urination and helps excrete the toxins of alcohol faster)
In western medicine there is even more research on watermelon, click here for more. 

Bananas - As mentioned in the Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (1765 A.D.), Bananas act on the digestion of the Large Intestine. Essentially, they have a detoxifying effect. They help the Large Intestine, and promote the excretion of toxins.  While it's great to urninate alot after drinking to "get all the toxins out", this also will deplete potassium and salts in the body. 100g of banana has about 358mg of potassium. Even before the science of hangovers was known, TCM was using bananas for condtions we now know are caused by dehydration and intoxication.

Some people are more effected by different kinds of alcohol. It's not just about the dehydrative effects of being "intoxicated". Why do some people wake up feeling seedy after even just 2 beers the night before?

Beer and grain-based alcohols cause more dampness - nausea, cloudy headed, heaviness, bloating.(More about dampness can be found in this awesome article.

The over-working of the Spleen and Stomach results in depleting the Spleen Qi and can lead to poor digestion, bloating and diarrhoea.

Spirits are much more warming and "hot" in nature than beers and wine. The more heat in your system the more strong the odour of the bowels, sweat and breath will be.

Toxic heat can cause things like skin to flare up - that's why you can find an acne break out after a big night out! If you already have skin conditions or acne, then heating foods and alchool should be avoided. People with acne should at the very least stay away from spirits. 

One of our herbal teas is made especially for clearing stagnation and toxic heat - HANGOVER TEA. 

It's based on a traditional chinese herbal formula Bao He Wan. This tea should be drunk in the morning upon waking. Hot water can be added to the herbs to make more tea over and over again, each time it will be a little less strong. You need the strongest effects first thing, then as the day goes on the herbs will still continue to expel heat and toxins, stimulating digestion and elimination. 

More info about our Hangover Tea can be found here.