Category: Medicinal Foods

Kuzu, A Medicinal Food

To read this post in a user-friendly pdf format, click here Kuzu Kuzu, for the Kitchen, the Medicine Chest, and the Suitcase Kuzu, a strong and tenacious root, is highly-valued in Japan, where the powder from its root is used medicinally and in cooking to thicken soups, sauces, and desserts, much like corn starch or…

Sea Vegetables for Health

Ocean VegetablesAn Untapped Resource for Health, Longevity and Healing Ocean vegetables provide ten to twenty times the minerals of land-based plant foodsthe complete panoply of 56-64 essential minerals and trace minerals required by the body for its many important functionsall in chelated, colloidal forms that are easy for the body to utilize, and in the…

Sprouts for Health

Once any vibrant seeda whole grain, legume, bean, nut, or seedis soaked in enough water for long enough to breakdown its protective phytic acid, germination is started and soon a young plant is born. In its earliest few days, the plant first unfolds as a sprouta tender stem whose job it is to burrow through…

Cod Liver Oil

There is hardly a disease in the books that does not respond well to cod liver oil, and not just infectious diseases but also chronic modern diseases like heart disease and cancer.link Fermented cod liver oil is my favorite source of vitamin D because you need very little, it is easy to store, and it…

Fats–A “Feel Good” Macronutrient

The foods that protect us against depression and help us engage in low time-preference, future-oriented activities are the same foods that traditional cultures valued for good health. They provide vitamins A and D, calcium, and arachidonic acid in abundance. See February 2011 Attuned to Winter Cod liver oil vitamins A and D Butter from grass-fed…

Foods to Strengthen Organ Systems

According to Chinese Five-Phase Theory, the organs systems of the body are associated with seasonal energies, colors, foods, and emotions and moods. Consuming too much or too little of a food associated with an organ system, or its mother or controlling element can lead to imbalance. See Five Phase Theory. The interrelationships outlined in Five-Phase…

Strengthening Foods from Chinese Medicine

In Chinese Medicine, all treatments ultimately aim at either tonifying Yin (fluids) or Yang (fire) or diminishing excessive Yin or Yang. Qi and Yang tonics work in pairsfor the spleen and kidneys. Qi tonics nourish the spleen/stomach and digestion. Yang tonics help create heat and digestive fire, which addresses chronic fatigue, sugar cravings, and when…

Mushrooms as Tonics

MushroomsTonics For Energy, Immunity, and to Help Relieve Chronic Disease Mushrooms, unlike other plants that are rich in chlorophyll that use sunlight to create food, live on organic matter, such as decaying trees and plant matter. Because mushrooms scavenger for decaying matter, they act in an associated way in the body to draw out toxins,…

Chinese and Western Tonic Herbs

Mushrooms are low in calories and high in vegetable proteins, as well as being packed with such nutrients as iron, zinc, fiber, amino acids and a variety of vitamins and minerals. The medical mushrooms described below contain polysaccharides that have strong anti-viral properties, stimulate the immune system, and inhibit the growth of tumors. Astragalusfor energy…