Preserving Health & Achieving Longevity

By: Ricardo Dacosta
aka: Raghavendra Giri

Sun Si Miao, the greatest Chinese doctor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 ce), said that the superior doctor should first adjust the patient's diet and lifestyle. Only if that does not eliminate the patient's disease should the doctor go on to administer acupuncture or herbs. This statement shows how important dietary therapy is in Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM.

People in our society are becoming more and more aware about the negative effects that a poor diet has on our health and overall wellbeing. We all know that excess dietary fat and cholesterol are bad for us, bad for our heart, bad for our arteries, bad for our inmune system and certainly no good for our waistlines! White flour, white grain and white sugar are another no-no, they can cause, not only both hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), but they are a major contributing factor in an epidemic growth of most of our other degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, tooth decay, periodontal disease, osteoporosis, and even cancer.

Unfortunately, a majority of medical doctors today still do not advice what a patient should or should not eat when they are ill. If you think about it, beside breathing, there is only one more thing that we put into our bodies on a daily basis and that is our food intake, which we do at least 3 times a day and sometimes even more! How to choose, how to prepare and how to eat foods are the foundation for preserving health & achieving longevity.

A Universal diet cannot exist!

Although people are becoming aware about how our daily intake of foods affect our health and wellbeing, I feel that most of you are getting more and more confuse about all the different dietary therapies that we have out there these days. Does that sounds familiar? The funny thing is that in one way or the other they all contadict each other!

A Universal Diet Cannot Exist, as we are all different and unique. Yes, we are all humans, we all have ears, eyes, nose, hair, feet, hands, etcetera, but someone who lives in alaska whether his/her type of blood is this or that needs a different diet that someone who lives in the caribbean, someone who works physically outdoors needs different foods than an office assistant, even the foods that you eat during the week should be a bit different than what you eat on your days off, and it usually is, isn't? You see, we have all been borne with different constitutions and because of the environment and the culture we live in, and the type of activities that we perform, we have all created a different condition as well. So the question is not whether you should follow one dietary therapy or the other. They all work, but which one or what foods would support your own individual needs.

The problem with Breakfast?

Whenever I suggest to a client to cut down on fatty and sugary foods, the inevitable question is What should I eat for breakfast?
It seems that in our society, is the most problematic and unhealthy meal of the day. It's either:

a)A greasy, fatty, high cholesterol foods like eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, etc.
b)Sweets and sugars, such as pancakes, waffles, donuts, muffins, cakes, etc.
c) Cold milk or yogurt with sugar-coated cereal or granola
or
d)A combination of one with the other

All of which we wash down with coffee and/or orange juice. A great way to start your day! Not really, we already mentioned the negative effects of fatty and sugary foods on article #1 and in order to understand why Cold foods like yogurt for breakfast are not that healthy, we must first understand something about how Chinese medicine views digestion.

Chinese Medical theory likens the process of digestion to the process of distilation in the making of alcohol. This process begins with the stomach. The Stomach is likened to a large pot on a stove or a large fermentation vat. Foods and liquids enter the Stomach where they are "rottened and ripened." In other words, they are turned into a 100 F degrees soup or mash. Until they are turned into this 100 degrees soup, no further digestion can take place.

Now, the fire under this pot is the Spleen, or at least the Chinese concept of the Spleen. It is the qi from the Spleen which, like a fire under a still, transform the mash into energy, separating the pure essence from the dregs, and driving this pure essence upward where its transform into Qi and Blood.

In a Nutshell, we can say that digestion begins by turning all foods and liquids into a 100 degrees soup in the stomach, and, therefore, the closer a food is to 100 degrees soup, the more easily digestible it is.

In general Cooking is a form of predigestion, and, since the process of digestion is a warm transformation, foods should be eaten at approximately body temperature for easiest and most complete digestion.

So...What should I eat?

You are probably saying, "If I cut down my comsumption of eggs, bacon, ham, milk, yogurt, muffins, sweet rolls, then what should I eat?

The general answer is a "Qing Dan Diet." Qing means clear or pure, but it also means light. Dan means bland. In a nutshell a simple diet composed mainly of whole grains, beans and bean products, vegetables, and fruits. Such diet is low in animal protein such as eggs, meat and fish. When these are eaten, they are eaten only sparingly and not every day. Such a diet is also low in sugars and sweets and fats and oils.

Whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits are all foods which are high in Qi. This is the diet that Chinese medicine believes is the foundation of good health and long life.

Congee and herbal Porridges

All this being said, you are still probably asking what to eat for breakfast. If my general answer above was a "Qin Dan Diet", my specific answer here is "Congee". Congee is a dilute porridge. In China is mainly made with rice, but it can be made with other grain or a combination.

In the history of food, gruel and porridge came before bread. In northern Europe, oat and rye porridges were daily fare. "Porridge is the mother of us all" is a Russian proverb. In Germany and France millet and buckwheat were popular. The Gaules were great consumers of millet porridge. In South America, a corn type of porridge called "Atol" is still eaten these days.

Chinese congees may be made with a single grain or a combination of grains, beans, vegetables, animal protein, or Chinese medicinal herbs.

Medicinal congees are made by adding Chinese medicinal herbs to various grains and cooking these into porridge. Since each type of grain and herb has its Chinese medicinal description and use, one can tailor their morning congee to their exact health needs.

How to make congee

A General direction for making congee is to use 1 part of brown rice to 6-7 parts of water. You can either:

-Cook it at low flame overnight with a crock pot or slow cooker
-Soak the rice overnight and cook it for 1 hour in the morning at low heat or
-Use left over brown rice from dinner add double amounts of water and cook for 30 min. at low heat

Health Benefits of Herbal Congee

This simple rice porridge is easily assimilated, tonifies the Blood and Qi. Fortifies the Spleen and Harmonizes the Stomach. Particulary good for anyone with a week digestion. Since rice itself strengthens the digestive center, when herbs are added to a congee they become more completely assimilated and their properties are therefore enhanced. Some western conditions that can be improved with herbal congees are:

-High Blood pressure
-High Cholesterol
-Lower Back pain
-Lack of energy
-Menstrual Irregularities
-Anemia
-Impotence

In Chinese Diet Therapy and Herbalism we do not give herbs or herbal formulas based on a western named condition. We do so by identifying pattern of disharmony, which assures that a giving formula fits the totality of the client. Because it fits the entire client in all their manifestations, it not only improves the disease or major complaint but harmonizes ad balances the client's entire condition.

Copyright notice : None parts of this essay can be reproduce without permission from the author

Don't forget to: