Winter Recipes
Prevent Flu and Colds Naturally with Chinese Medicine
Are you wondering with all the stress of Covid-19, and the upcoming elections, how to prevent flu and colds naturally? The Nei Jing/Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, which presents the cutting edge medical wisdom of its time, is full of brilliant advice...
Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu
When fighting a cold or the flu ramp up your Agni internal fire by drinking a quart a day of Dr. Wickermasinghe's Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu. Yes, the flu and colds are caused by viruses. But nursing is a vital part of medicine. Staying warm, pushing hot...
Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds in Winter
Ayurvedic Diet Matched to the Season and Dosh: Use Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds When we speak about using Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds in Winter, we are talking creating the healthiest immune system possible. Yes, flu is caused by a virus. By why do...
The Spiritual Qualities of Vata in Winter
Vata in Winter and Late Autumn Ayurveda understands that a healthy spirit and a healthy body, is better than just one or the other. In describing the passage of space through time Ayurveda also describes the way in which the qualities of each dosha elevate in nature...
Winter Bone Broth
Bone Marrow Soup, Part 2: Winter In cold weather its natural to crave warm food. And the alchemical transformation of solids into liquids, of vegetables and meats or bones into soup, is a way of liberating the essence of these foodstuff into a substance that is much...
Chinese Herbal Chicken Bone Broth for Recovery from Bronchitis
I discovered Chinese Herbal Medicine Chicken Bone Broth for Recovery from Bronchitis in 1991. I was in my second year of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture school, and was also working full time as an apprentice in two very busy San Diego Acupuncture Clinics. At the...
Winter in Classical Chinese Medicine
The idea of winter in classical Chinese Medicine embodies the idea of slowing down. Slowing down is exactly what cold does to atoms in nature. To stop for a moment and meditate on the passage of time, to feel time moving inside you, is to practice the value of the...
Winter Cleanse Soup with Burdock, Dandelion, and Kombu
A Winter Cleanse Soup is a good remedy for the overeating of heavy rich foods that occurs around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. So, at the end of January, or in Early Spring, restor your gut microbiome by making a Chinese Medicine Soup with...
Winter Jing Tonic Cabbage Soup
Winter Jing Tonic Cabbage Soup is an ideal way to nourish what Chinese Medicine calls the Kidney Qi, associated with the deepest level of body energy, the Jing, or Essence. Growth, reproduction, basic energy levels, strength, and mental faculties are all associated...
Jewish Style Sweet and Sour Vegan Cabbage
Jewish Style Sweet and Sour Vegan Cabbage Cabbage is one of nature’s miracle foods. You don’t have to buy exotic foods like Goji berry to have a healthy diet. Goji berries are great, and are used in Chinese medicine as food medicine and in medicinal formulas for...
Vata Balancing Tea
A simple way to take the edge off of the cold, windy, dryness of the late Autumn early Winter Vata season is with a good Vata tea.. Why Vata Balancing Tea? To balance Vata is to reduces it. We reduce, or pacify our doshas, because their natural tendency is to...
Vata in Winter
Let's talk about what happens to Vata in Winter and how it relates to the qualities of the elements Air and Space, or Wind and Ether (as in etheric) that the Vata dosha is a manifestion of. Ayurveda describes the ways in which different kinds of foods,...
Fresh Ginger Root Tea to Prevent Colds
Winter Ginger Tea to Prevent Colds Here is a great winter ginger tea recipe for cold weather in Winter or Late Autumn. Drinking this kind of tea regularly in cold weather will keep your internal fire burning strongly. This will help prevent colds and flu. A basic...
Autumn in the Nei Jing Su Wen Chinese Medical Classic
utumn in the Nei Jing Su Wen Chinese Medical Classic The essence of Chinese Medical Philosophy, which underpins the practice of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, is the need to live in harmony with nature, what the classics call “heaven and earth.”...
Daikon Radish: Detoxify and Digest
Daikon Radish is naturally detoxifying. It is pungent, light, and warm, and is delicious in soups, salads, and as a pickled vegetable. Its detox effect is often increased by pairing it with fresh or pickled ginger. Daikon Radish in Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda The...
Come in from the Cold Ayurveda Winter Tea
Tonight it was quite cold for San Diego and I walked to my friend's house and then we went out again, so when we came back in I made an Ayurveda winter tea. We put on a small kettle and I placed in the tea pot: Fresh Ginger Slices, 5 Cloves 4 Cassia Twig 1 inch,...
Winter Solstice in Chinese Medicine
Winter Solstice in Chinese Medicine--The Way of Heaven What is Meant by the Way of Heaven in Chinese Medicine Natural Law versus Sin To live in harmony with the Winter Solstice in Chinese Medicine is , according to our Chinese Classics, "living with the Way of...
Wakame Sea Vegetable with Turnip, Pear, and American Ginseng
Wakame is a delicate, mild tasting, low calorie sea vegetable with a succulent texture. A favorite food in Japanese and Korean cuisine, it is traditionally cooked in miso soup, served on its own as a cold side dish (sunomono), or cooked with foods...
Curried Quinoa Super Food: Pacify Kapha in Late Winter/Early Spring
Curried Quinoa Super Food: Pacify Kapha in Late Winter/Early Spring The ancient grain of the Incas, Quinoa has a delicate, nutty, slightly bitter flavor and the lightest texture of all grains. This combination of bitter taste and light texture make it an ideal grain...
Late Winter Arugala for Kapha
Arugula is one of those green leafy vegetable that is so delicious both raw and cooked. It lends a nutty and spicy taste to other milder greens, and serves as a fine foil for feta cheese, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried Turkish apricots (those plump dark...
Moxabustion to Strengthen the Immune System
In Chinese medicine moxa-bustion is done in summer and autumn to prepare for winter. Moxabustion warms the channels and stregnthens the organ complexes, especially the Adrenal-Digestive axis. Directions for Home Moxabustion. Please do moxa safely and at your own risk....
Celery Root, Burdock, Brocolli, and Sea Food Miso Soup for Dinner
Chick Pea Miso Soup with Celery Root and Scallops Ingredients 1 cup scallops or other sea food 1 cup chopped celery root 1 cup chopped burdock root 1/2 cup white, brown, or fresh shitake mushrooms 1 cup small broccoli florets 4″ piece of kombu sea veggie, cut into...
7 Steps for a Healthy Winter from the Yellow Emperor
Practical Advice for Winter from the Yellow Emperor’s Classic 1)In winter, get plenty of rest, more than your normal amount. Cast away Puritan guilt and Cowboy pride about getting by on lack of sleep. Leave martyrdom to the religious fanatics. 2)In Winter cultivate...
Common Cold in Ayurveda
Common Cold in Ayurveda Common Cold in Ayurveda is called Pratishyaya and is usually an aggravation of Kapha dosha. This is because its symptoms involves increased amounts of liquid discharge, build up of phlegm, and the sensation of feeling chilled. We are more...
Late Autumn/Early Winter Whole Grain n’ Flax Blueberry Pancakes
Rainy Winter Morning Whole Grain Wild Blueberry Pancakes. Rainy winter mornings after long hikes in the San Diego desert make me want pancakes. Good, solid, whole grain ones. The kind that make you feel like you ate food, not syrupy junk. At Trader Joe's the other day...
Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup
Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup: The other day I found some very lovely Turkish Yellow lentils at the Middle Eastern food store. Here in San Diego, I get my Middle Eastern groceries at either North Park Produce, in City Heights, or out at Heritage International Market in El...
Winter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame
Winter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame Papaya is one of the few fruits (the other being banana) that are recommended with other foods. Papaya is especially good with proteins, due to its high levels of the digestive enzymes papain and chymopapain, which act...
Azuki Beans in your Oatmeal!
Oatmeal with Azuki Bean (Oat and Bean Congee)Beans in Oatmeal? How is it possible?Soft, mild tasting Azuki beans have a long history of use in Japan and South Asia in sweet foods and deserts. In Chinese medicine they are considered grounding and balancing, and...
Winter Seasonal Eating
Winter Seasonal Eating In Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda winter seasonal eating is common sensical. Just as its natural to eat and drink cooling things in summer, winter is the time we maintain body heat with warming foods and herbs....
Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain
Tired of gaining 5-10 lbs every holiday season? Here is something you can do.Any healthy person can fast for one day. Try fasting for one day between Thanksgiving and Christmas and again between Christmas and New Year’s day to rest the digestive system and increase...
Staying Health with the Seasons: Winter
Staying Healthy with the Seasons: WinterHototogisu kata Did a cuckoo cry?Niwa no to akerya I open the doorKoyoi no sora nya And look out in the garden-- Tsuki bakai There is only the moon Translation by Kenneth Rexroth, 1958, from 100 Poems from the Japanese.In the...
Warming Baked Root and Squash Stew: Vegan or Not
One of the things we look at in Chinese Dietary Therapy is, what are the effects of particular cooking styles on the "energetic" quality of the food; here energy refers to the warming characteristics of the dish. Whereas steaming and quick boiling are mild, and...
Baked Roots and Squash Stew: Vegan or Non-Vegan
This is an excellent warming slightly sweet slightly spicy stew that can be made purely vegan, or in a traditional mid-eastern style with ground beef or lamb. Making it with meat is more warming and tonifying, suitable for Vata, but unnecesary for Kapha, or Pitta...
Teff n’ Quinoa Gluten Free Pancakes Recipe
Teff n' Quinoa Gluten Free Vegan Pancakes Recipe Autumn and Winter are ideal times for the warming, grounding quality of of pancakes. But why use pre-packaged, over-salted, sugary, low-fiber pancake mixes whose pre-ground grains may or may not be fresh, when...
Winter Barley & Bean Tridoshic Vegan Stew
Barley and Bean Stew is a great addition to your vegan diet in Winter. In Ayurveda, this is an example of how to make a dish more Tridoshic, by including all the 6 tastes. Ingredients Barley, 3/4 Cup, Cooked till Soft Pinto Beans, 1 Cup, Cooked One Head Beet...
Vegan Chick Pea Miso Soup or Its Seafoody Cousin
Of the general food remedies for winter, nothing approaches soup. Soup is warming and makes vegetables and protiens delicious and digestible. At the same time pushing hot fluids in winter keeps mucus membranes and bronchial passages hydrated, while loosening phlegm .A...
Cafe la Blanca Simple Vegan Vegetable Soup
On a recent trip to Mexico City I stayed in the historic district across the street from a sweet little restaurant that became my nightly haunt. A relic from the '50's, Cafe La Blanca served a lovely, mild, easy-to-digest vegetable soup that calmed my nerves and...
Immunity Boosting Foods in Ayurveda
Immunity Boosting Foods Immunity boosting foods are those that are full of Prana-- freshly made and well prepared, organic, easy to digest, and pure. Tailored to our individual body-mind type (prakruti), age, and the season, they fill the body with Prana...