Doctor Of Natural Medicine

Food as medicine

Beijing

Few would like the idea of adding medicine to food, but for the Chinese, sometimes food is medicine, and adding natural herbs to dishes may mean the creation of a gourmet dish with healthy benefits.

Some of the ingredients often used this way includes ginger, ginseng and angelica root.

For instance, ginger is often infused in boiling water to create a home cure for mild throat infections or to prevent the onset of a cold after one is caught in heavy rain.

Ginseng is slowly simmered with chicken to replenish energy or deficiency of qi. Angelica is a popular tonic herb, often added to a stew of ginger-and-frog to a warming winter soup.

These healthy cooking has spawned a genre of restaurants that specialize in cooking with herbs.

Herbal Kitchen is an example, with an entire menu with a variety of dishes incorporating herbs healthy, beautifully presented.

Roucongrong or cistanche, is a plant root parasites produced in the deserts of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Locals dub it "desert ginseng", and cook it with mutton and beef to strengthen the kidneys, as a natural aphrodisiac for men. Herbal Cuisine Kitchen adds it to lamb tripe, served as a cold appetizer, and also cooks it with seafood in a clay pot.

There is more fungus on the menu, including the celebrated lacy bamboo fungus, slowly braised with turtle skirts and ganoderma. Ganoderma is credited with all sorts of health-giving properties from just good-for-you to anti-carcinogenic.

It is a tonic soup very suitable for the season.

Even beef ribs are given the herbal treatment, cooked with a vegetable mash and papaya to make it really tender. Venison, a more gamey meat, is another energy booster and here, it is braised with aged tangerine peel or chenpi, dried figs and jujubes to achieve a perfectly balanced tonic.

Chef Lee Wang has more than 20 years' culinary experience and confesses he is influenced by his father, a Chinese traditional medicine doctor.

The chef says it is possible to use Chinese herbs in everyday cooking for healthier eating. But he adds that eating must be balanced with exercise and enough rest.

The use of herbs in food has generated some recent controversy. For example, wild ginseng may be a too strong tonic for some, and pregnant women should avoid saffron.

An official regulation limits the number of herbs used in restaurants to 300. Wang says that's way below what's used in Chinese households.

Natural Medicine to Improve the Health of your heart | Day Diet

Natural Medicine to Improve the Health of your heart

If you are thinking of improving the health of your heart, through natural medicine, check with your doctor first. Some types of herbs and plants could endanger your cardiovascular health.

But do not start using herbal supplements on your own without prior suggestion from your cardiologist, to evaluate which herbs and alternative medicine have a greater benefit to improve your cardiovascular health.

Natural medicine for your heart health, prevention is the main thing:

Conventional medical specialists and practitioners of alternative medicine agree that the choice of your life can dramatically influence your heart health, exercise is cheap, and do better much better than some drugs. Doctor said, "a diet low in saturated fat and high in fiber and omega 3 fatty acids may protect against cardiovascular disease.” Omega  3 fatty acids are one of a biochemical substances more efficiently in decreasing cardiovascular disease in type, omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, a risk factor in cardiovascular disease, also increases high density lipoprotein (HDL) known as “good cholesterol”, and also as a blood thinner that helps lower blood pressure.

To deliver these omega 3 fatty acids your body, it is recommended to eat fish at least 2 times a week or consume natural fish oil.

People with problems in heart should consult their cardiologist before taking herbal supplements. Reducing stress is a main measures to control blood pressure and help prevent cardiovascular health problems.

The use of herbs is a time-honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. But herbs contain active substances that can cause side effects and interact with other herbs, supplements or medicines. For these reasons, herbs should be taken with care, under the supervision of a professional with expertise in the field of botanical medicine. Possible side effects of ginseng have a reasonably good safety record.The most common side effects are nervousness and excitement that usually decreases after the first day. The ability to concentrate may be impaired, and blood sugar may decrease to abnormally low levels. Consult your doctor before taking any herbal supplement.

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