Tips to optimise Winter through Chinese Medicine

Jun 8, 2018 | Uncategorized

The Artic Chill has well and truely settled in and is here to stay, which seems crazy as it felt like yesterday we were bathed in sunshine and running around in t-shirts. Just like how the seasons change we need to adapt our routine and lifestyle to that of our environment. Moving from the hot, fast-paced Yang season we have moved into the slower, colder and darker Yin season. This Yin energy asks of us to be more still, quiet and grounded. So with this change of season and hence environment and temperature, how do we protect our health?

In Winter we need to eat foods that create warmth, support our kidneys and promote inward energy. Winter is about hibernation and is the perfect time to re-connect, re-energise and give back to ourselves. It has been said by Hippocrates to “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, so with that in mind here are some tips to combat the Winter chill, harness the season change and optimise our health for more harmony.

Winter Foods:

  • Oysters combat Winter dryness and strengthen the Yin.
  • Mash potato, parsnip, carrot or sweet potato is the perfect comfort food.
  • Soups and stews provide excellent warmth for Winter. Warm foods include anchovies, bay leaves, capers, chestnuts, chicken, coriander, dill, fennel, leek, mussels, mutton, nutmeg, pine nuts, rosemary, spring onions, prawns, sweet potatoes and walnuts.
  • Foods that benefit the kidneys in Winter include sweet potatoes, kidney beans, squid, millet, sesame seeds and lamb. Other great Winter foods for our kidneys include beans, black soybeans and brown lentils.
  • Both salty and bitter flavours are good for Winter as they encourage energy to move down and in. Salty foods will moisten internal dryness and include foods such as, crab, crayfish, oysters, mussels, pork, squid, miso, soy sauce, seaweed, millet and barley. To add in more bitter tastes, you can add in turnip, celery, citrus peel, rye or oats.
  • In Winter sourdough rye bread with liver pate makes the perfect light breakfast or lunch. Rye is naturally bitter and good for the heart; the baking process also makes it sour which makes the bread good for the liver. Rye dries damp, builds strength in muscles and aids digestion. Liver with pate strengthens both the liver and kidneys. You can try also with hummus, miso paste or tahini.
  • Vegetable stock packs a punch is you experiment a little. Ties in muslin cloth. Add star anise, liquorice root, cloves, fennel seeds and mandarin peel to your next stock.
  • In Winter we need to have a richer diet due to cold temperatures. Use pork or silverbeet cooked with two figs to moisten the lungs in the cold weather.
  • The best fish to consume over Winter include orange roughy and trevally.
  • Many women with low iron feel the cold sooner and more extremely than women with normal iron levels. Many of the foods recommended by TCM for Winter such as seaweed, legumes and beefier naturally high in iron.

Foods in season:

  • Herbs and spices: Rosemary, shallots, garlic, onions, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, fennel, anise, dill and horseradish.
  • Fruits: Apples, cumquats, custard apples, grapefruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, nashi, oranges, papaya, rhubarb, tangelos.
  • Vegetables: Asian greens, avocados, beetroot, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, kale, leek, okra, olives, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, silverbeet, spinach, sweet potato, turnips and witlof.

Tips for Winter:

  • Consume lots of hearty, warming, nourishing foods.
  • If you’re feeling tired and your body needs rest- listen to your body.
  • Rug up and keep warm- scarf, gloves, beanies.
  • Reduce your stress levels- take a trip down to the Mornington Peninsula “Hot Springs”.
  • If you feel a cold coming on- eat Miso Soup with fresh spring onions (recipe below).
  • If you begin to get a cold with a runny nose, have some warm water with lemon. If your nose and sinuses are blocked and your tongue is pale try cinnamon and honey with warm water.
  • Reduce your coffee intake. Drink Chai tea/lattes.
  • Ensure you’re getting enough sleep.
  • Stay dry.
  • Stay hydrated.

RECIPE:

Miso Soup with Shallots – A remedy for the common cold

Miso Soup with shallots is an ancient Chinese herbal remedy for colds. In 300 AD a famous herbalist, Ge Hong, writes about Miso Soup with Shallots in a book called, Bei ji zhou hou fang or Emergency Formulas to Keep Up One’s Sleeve. 

The soup is used at the onset of a cold when a person is just beginning to feel a headache, stuffy nose, muscle aches and a slight fever.

Miso Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 cups water

3-4 tablespoons Miso or red soy bean paste (usually sold in the refrigerated section)

3-5 green onions stalks, chopped

3 pieces each of thinly sliced fresh ginger & garlic

Directions:

Dissolve the miso in a little bit of hot water (about 2 tsp.)

Bring water up to boiling point in a saucepan and add the miso & shallots & ginger.

Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat top with green onions and serve.

Variations: you can add various other ingredients to make a more substantial soup, such as tofu, fresh mushrooms, snow pea sprouts, cooked rice noodles

So, the next time you feel a cold coming on, be sure to have your miso!