As the weather grows cold, and in many places more damp, we must keep a keen eye on our digestive fire, to keep our bodies feeling their best in this cold season. Soups and warming herbs play a key role in keeping our immune systems strong as well. Shifting the diet to include more cooked food and less cold foods (salads and smoothies) is ideal for winter. When we check in with ourselves about how we are feeling on a regular basis, we can begin to set a baseline for how it feels to feel good and use this intuition to avoid getting sick.
Working in a health clinic, I have had to develop ways to protect my health both energetically and physically. I can feel when I am caring too much, or using too much of my own energy to sympathize with someone. I have had to learn the hard way that I can only give so much, and that going beyond that point compromises my own health – leaving me unable to help anyone. Keeping myself strong, positive, and having good boundaries has helped my relationships and my ability to help my patients. Studying medicine and being in that environment has helped me to learn some great tips that I am excited to share.
And remember – getting sick isn’t the end of the world. It is actually a window to learn more about our own health and bodies and to get better, build our immune resistance and detoxify.
Tired and Exposed to Illness? How to Overcome
- 1000 mg/Two capsules of powdered reishi mushrooms (I like Fungi Perfecti companies Host Defense Reishi, which is also organic)
- Vitamin C sourced from fresh lemons, or powder (500 mg) mixed with water, sourced from acerola cherries (which I have found to be a potent and organic option).
Vitamin C boosts the immune system and is a potent antioxidant. Reishi is an edible mushroom, known for its adaptogenic properties. Adaptogens are very special plants that have the ability to interact with our bodies in an intuitive way, changing their effect based on the needs of the body, helping us adapt and adapting to our needs. A daily dose of reishi has the potential to cure seasonal allergies. If you like to eat mushrooms in food, the maitake/hen of the woods mushroom is also an excellent immune tonic – and tasty too!
In Chinese medicine, there is the idea that when the bodies defensive qi (immune system) is strong, that a person will not get sick, even when exposed to illness (which is constantly around us). It is like a wall fortifying the exterior of the body that when strong, nothing can pass through. When we get run down, that wall becomes weaker and no longer as capable of protecting the temple within. The above mix, helps to keep the wall strong and the pathogens out.
Sweat It Out
When the cold or flu ‘bug’ starts to attack the wall, trying to get into the body, we start to feel a little unwell. You might find yourself saying something like, “I feel like I am coming down with something,” “my throat feels a little sore,” “my nose is a little stuffy,” or “I feel a bit achy”. This is the time to take immediate action to push the bug out of the body before it really takes hold or gets in deeper. Chinese medicine does this by sweating the pathogen out through the pores. If you act when you are just beginning to feel a little sick, you can prevent it from getting worse.
This is an adaption of a classic Chinese recipe that has been used for over 1000 years for the purpose of relieving the beginning stages of a cold.
Scallion and Miso Soup
- 5 scallions – whole stalks sliced thin including the tender green parts.
- 3 bulbs of garlic – chopped
- 5 slices of fresh ginger – chopped (about a golf ball sized chunk)
- 1 carrot -chopped
- 1 piece of celery – chopped
- 1 tablespoon of organic miso paste
- 1 /2 teaspoon of black pepper or paprika
- fresh herbs you might have on hand (basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, etc)
Add the ingredients (with the exception of garlic) to a pot with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 5 minutes.
In a bowl separate bowl, mix up the miso paste in water that is warm, but not hot. Mixing the miso with boiling water destroys the living culture. When the soup has cooled down a bit, add the miso. While eating and after, wrap yourself in a bundle of blankets until you break out in a little sweat. This sweating acts as a way for the pathogen to get released from the body. A variety of seasonal vegetables can be added to this basic recipe to make for a delicious warming soup even when you are not sick.
Traveling? Ideas for the Road
If you are traveling, not at home, or in a place where you can’t cook, 2 chopped up cloves of garlic raw often does the trick. Chop them up or chew them (which is a bit harsh on the breath) and drink with some warm water. This can be a little intense on an empty or sensitive stomach, but it is worth not catching a cold.
Sometimes regardless of our efforts, we can get sick. Recently while traveling I had to treat a strep throat with herbs. It was good to see that it is possible to treat this without the standard western treatment (which is a full round of antibiotics). As strep is becoming more resistant to antibiotics, this herbal remedy will only become more useful.
Sore throat/strep throat gargle:
- 2-4 drops of lemon essential oil or juice of 1 squeezed lemon
- 2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of raw honey (the cloudier the better)
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic pressed or chopped very fine
Add this to 2 cups of hot water and mix it all together (doing it in a mason jar with a lid so you can shake it is ideal).
Every 30 minutes while you are awake, gargle with it and try to allow it to get as far back in your throat as possible. It isn’t going to taste great, but it should begin to make the symptoms lessen within a few hours. Do it until you feel better or until the blend is gone.
Seasonal Foods
Living in harmony with the seasons is very nourishing to our overall health. Shopping at farmer’s markets or doing a little bit of research can help us learn what foods grow in our area during each season. Eating foods that are in line with the season goes along with how our bodies have evolved to thrive. Ideal foods for winter in most areas are root vegetables (sweet potatoes, beets, radish, rutabaga, turnips), squash and greens (kale, mustard greens, collards). All of these nourishing foods can be added to the above soup recipe – for a delicious healthy winter meal.
