Healthy Snacks and Lunches for Back to School

By Junie Norfleet, L.Ac.

The start of school brings the challenge of a healthy snack or lunch that is easily packed. Below you will find some suggestions, but first some information on the systems of the Spleen and Stomach.

The Spleen and Stomach systems are an integral part of digestion in Chinese medicine. The Stomach system must have some "heat" to begin the digestive process. Too many hot, spicy foods can create too much "heat" and disrupt the digestive process. The Spleen system can become depleted if we consume too many "cold" items. "Cold" can be temperature cold, or energetically cold. For example, raw foods and soy products are energetically cold.

The Spleen system is strengthened by the taste of sweet. Sweet from a Chinese medicine perspective is the sweetness of rice. In our culture, many people would not recognize that rice is sweet, because we are so accustomed to the sweetness of refined sugar. Eating rice, sweet potatoes, beets, and carrots will strengthen the spleen.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, it is strengthening to the digestive system for foods to be lightly cooked. A weak digestive system will not be able to absorb nutrients adequately, so it aids the digestive process to begin the break down of foods by lightly cooking them.

Preparing a bento box can be a fun way of introducing less "traditional" foods into the lunch. Bento boxes were designed in Japan and are becoming more popular in North America recently. A bento lunch is a compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box. There are many websites that discuss bento boxes. They include ideas for taking advantage of leftovers when preparing a bento box and elaborate or simple meals that can be prepared ahead of time. This website has a lot of great ideas that can give you inspiration for lunches: click here

Fresh vegetables are great fillers for bento boxes. Cutting them into special shapes can make the food more attractive to a picky eater. Carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and green peppers are easy to add to bento boxes. Add a small container of almond butter (less oil than using peanut butter), hummus, or Lemon Tahini dressing (quarter cup tahini, 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove garlic, juice of 1 lemon, half tsp tamari, third cup water), as a dipping sauce. (This recipe and the recipe for Apricot Kudzu Custard below are from Feeding the Whole Family, Recipes for Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents by Cynthia Lair.)

Healthy snacks can be made from leftovers: just mix cooked rice with leftover vegetables. For small children, a fun snack (or breakfast) can be made by warming cooked rice and sweet potatoes (or winter squash in the winter) in some rice milk and adding some walnuts or seeds to add texture. Below is a recipe for a seed mixture that is great to add as a topping for vegetables or just to eat as a snack.

Take the seeds that are the same physical sizes and dry fry or toast them. (To dry fry, just put the seeds in a frying pan without oil and heat until the seeds pop.)

Seed Mixture

Quarter cup of each of the following:
black sesame
white sesame
gold flax
brown flax
pumpkin seeds
unsalted sunflower seeds

Mix all these together after dry frying.

You can learn to use your left over rice to make sushi rolls. Cucumber, carrot, asparagus, and avocado can be added to make sushi interesting. Sushi rolls make a great addition to a bento box.

Nuts are healthy snacks. Walnuts and almonds are better choices, because they are not as oily as peanuts and cashews. Overeating oily nuts can congest the liver.

According to Paul Pitchford in Healing With Whole Foods, goat milk is more easily digested than dairy products, because the curd is softer and the fat globules are smaller. Add rosemary and/or basil (or spices of your choosing) to goat cheese and spread it on rice crackers. Berries and other fruits can be easily added to goat yogurt for a sweet snack. The darker the berry, the more it nourishes blood, so blue and black berries are excellent choices.

Fruits are also good snacks, with local fruits being better choices. Remember that fruit sugar is still sugar, and that too much sugar can deplete the Spleen system.

Another sweet snack is Apricot Kudzu Custard:
Prep time 5-10 minutes
Makes 4 servings
2 Tbs Kudzu
2 cups apricot juice (or any juice of your choice)
2 tsp tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dissolve the kudzu in cold or room temperature apricot juice. Put mixture in a small pan over medium heat, stirring constantly. As mixture simmers, it becomes clear and thick. Once this happens, remove from heat. Add tahini and vanilla; mix well. Serve immediately, custard will get rubbery if allowed to cool to room temperature.

Have fun with these suggestions and invite your child to learn how to make some of these snacks, too.

Setting a Good Example through Healthy Eating

By Rachel Nowakowski, L.Ac.

At Thanksgiving dinner, I noticed how some kids are willing to try new foods while others reject anything unfamiliar. Like adults, children develop a natural preference for what they eat most often and enjoy. One way to get kids to make healthy choices is by setting a good example. Because the childhood impulse to imitate is strong, you can encourage your child to eat nutritious foods by being a role model.

Spleen qi is responsible for transforming and transporting food essences and absorbing nutrients. In Chinese medicine theory, children are born with underdeveloped Spleen energy. Considering this theory, we must carefully introduce new foods to children. Overindulging in sweet foods will only lead to further Spleen qi deficiency. Because Spleen qi is associated with the sweet flavor, when it is out of balance, we usually crave sweet foods. (Perhaps this is why so many kids seem to be born with a sweet tooth!)

When your kids ask to taste what you're eating, it helps to have your plate filled with nutritious selections. But healthy eating is not just about what we eat, but also how we eat. Eating while under physical or emotional stress can be harmful to the digestion, even if we are eating a perfect diet. Do you eat while in a hurry? While standing up? While under stress? Stress negatively impacts Liver qi. When this excess energy overacts onto the Spleen, digestion will suffer.

We can teach our children healthy eating habits and take special care to protect Spleen qi if we:

Sit down to eat together. Studies show that children and teens, who eat frequent meals with their families, eat more fruits and vegetables (even dark green ones) and drink fewer soft drinks.

Knowing that dinner is served at about the same time every night and that the family will be sitting down together is comforting, which also enhances appetite and digestion.

Relax. Sitting and taking the time to eat slowly and digest helps Spleen qi to break down food properly. When we eat on the run or rush from the table after eating, it sends qi to other parts of the body when we need the qi in our stomachs for digesting. Taking time to give thanks and enjoy the company of your family and friends during meals also sets a good example for children.

Limit mealtime conversation to pleasant topics. Eating together provides time for your child to share what's on his/her mind. Make mealtime an enjoyable experience by avoiding upsetting topics while at the table.

Chew well. How many times have we heard this? Yet many of us tend to speed through meals, barely chewing our food. Digestion begins with chewing. Chinese medicine says the digestive qi works to break down food into a "100 degree soup". If we chew well, food gets broken down before it reaches the stomach and leaves less work for the digestive qi.

Avoid excess fluids while eating. Don't put out the digestive fire by drinking too many fluids. It is best to drink a little at the beginning and at the end of the meal. Not between each bite. Limiting drinks for kids will also keep them from getting full before they've eaten their vegetables!

Other tips to encourage healthy eating:

Get kids involved. Let them help with the grocery shopping. It's a great time for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods, and how to read food labels. Let your child help with dinner by washing or peeling the vegetables. Start a vegetable garden at home so your kids can eat what they grow!

Keep only healthy snacks around. Kids are bombarded by messages that counteract your best efforts. Between peer pressure and junk food advertisements, getting your child to eat well might seem like a lost cause. They may choose poorly when they are out of the house, but you can decide what is available to them at home.

Your children are looking to you for direction on how to eat well. Show them how and help your own health at the same time. Research shows that it takes the average child 8-10 presentations of a new food before he/she willingly accepts it. So don't give up.

Have the kids help with this fun and yummy recipe:

Butternut Squash Fries. Peel and remove seeds from squash. Cut into long, 1/2-inch wide strips. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Toss the fries to make sure they are evenly coated. Spread fries on a baking sheet. Bake 30-45 minutes, turning to ensure they are crispy on all sides. Enjoy!

Food Is Medicine: Roasted Root Vegetable

“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” -- Hippocrates, 460-359 BC
By Karen Litton, L.Ac.

The relationship between food and health has long been explored by both Western and Eastern medicines. Throughout Chinese history, diet has been one of the four pillars of individual responsibility that leads to good health. These pillars are diet, exercise, mindfulness and lifestyle. Food is one of the ways we stay either in balance or out of balance with the world around us. Food can be a contributor to sickness, as well as a main support for a healthy, long life.

As food was studied and analyzed over the millennia, the medicinal properties of different foods were noted. In the Western diet, foods are broken down into their constituents of proteins, calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc. In Chinese medicine, one looks for not only vitamins and minerals, but also for the energetic properties of food and the body’s relationship to that energetic. Just as your practitioner prescribes certain herbal decoctions or pills based on your particular needs, different foods are suggested for different people at particular times to support a specific healing path.

The Chinese medicine system is based on observation of nature in all its forms – including the seasons, temperature, movement of the elements, and tastes. In applying these principles to food, we can affect the balance of our body, mind and spirit.

The Stomach and Spleen are the organ systems in Chinese medicine that involve the food we take in, breaking it down, and transporting it through the body. This is part of an important process that produces “post-natal” Qi, which is the energy our body creates after we are born. It is based on the food we ingest and the air we breathe. Different energies from food affect the production of post-natal Qi in various ways. Your practitioner considers a couple of factors when deciding which foods to recommend to you. They are based on the concept of yin and yang.

Many of you have heard of the terms “yin” and “yang” as concepts in Chinese medicine. Yin and yang convey the Chinese approach to balance and healing -- a balance that is always shifting. The Chinese symbol for yin is the shady side of a hill, while the symbol for yang is the sunny side. Therefore Yin qualities include coolness, dampness, and darkness relative to the yang qualities of warmth, dryness and light.

In general, yin foods are more cooling and moistening to the body. Yang foods are more warming and drying. Something that grows in the air and sun is often yang. Those foods that grow in the earth or darkness have a more yin nature. Soft, wet, and cool foods are also yin, like melons. Foods needing heating up (like meat) are usually yang. The summer is a more yang time, while the winter is yin. Thus, foods like salads and other raw foods, which have a more yin effect on the body, are better
eaten in the summer when the weather is hotter and our body may need some cooling. However, these foods are not the best to eat in the cooler months and during the winter when our body needs more warming type foods.

Another factor to consider from a Chinese perspective is to define the nature/energy of foods as hot, cold, warm, cool, and neutral. The energy of foods is its capacity to generate these temperatures in the human body. This energy represents the “effect” of a particular food on our body. For example, green tea, even when drunk hot, has a “cooling” nature on our body.

In light of these principles, it is important to note that a person’s choice of foods can also affect one’s mood. Too much hot/yang food can lead to over-excitement, or even agitation. Too much yin/cold foods can lead to a feeling of lethargy and heaviness in the body. The Chinese idea is to eat both types of food to keep the body in balance. Thus, if you are dealing with a certain situation in life that has you all fired up, or you are a type of person who gets emotionally worked up a lot, then you might find a diet with a lot of yang or hot foods to be too energizing for you. It might be suggested that you limit certain yang foods in your diet.

Though this is just an overview of some of the principles involved in food therapy from a Chinese perspective, paying attention to the foods one eats is an ancient healing modality spanning many cultures. These principles make sense and when put into action. Health is a state of balance in which food choice is a key.

The fall is a transition time, as we are moving from the heat of summer to a cooler time of the year. Some of the vegetables we harvest at this time are squashes, turnips, carrots, beets and sweet potatoes. Let us take a moment to apply the principles we have mentioned to these root vegetables. These foods grow in the soil and are more yin in nature. Energetically, they are warming foods for our digestion. Many, like the squashes, have a sweet taste. They are all very nourishing to our Spleen and Stomach, and help us to build stamina for the coming cooler season.

On the previous page, there is a recipe for roasting root vegetables -- one that is good for your digestion, nourishment and enjoyment!

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How To Roast Root Vegetables

· Cut up any mixture of the following root vegetables: squashes, turnips, carrots, beets and sweet potatoes.

· You can include onions and peppers, if you like.

· Mix all with a light coating of olive oil.

· Add a spice like basil or rosemary, and mix it all thoroughly.

· Spread in a baking dish or cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 90 minutes, depending on how thick your slices are.

Have fun eating and take care of yourself throughout the seasons!

Foods for the Summer Season

By Junie Norfleet, L.Ac.

According to Chinese medicine theory, the summer season is associated with the element Fire, which corresponds to the Heart, Small Intestine, San Jiao, and Pericardium organ systems. The Heart system is the Sovereign Ruler, enabling us to see clearly and to serve with compassion. The Small Intestine system assists in digestion and assimilation of the foods consumed by separating pure and impure and extracting nourishment from ingested foods. The Pericardium system is the "Heart Protector," while the San Jiao system is responsible for the movement of fluids in the body.

The fire element is symbolic of yang, and is manifested as heat, great activity, reaching outward and moving forward in our lives and in nature. Since the fire element rules the heart, mind and spirit, the summer is a time to pacify and nourish our spirits and to find joy in hot summer days and warm summer nights. A balance in the fire element provides a strong and healthy heart, a mind that is calm, sleep that is refreshing, and proper absorption of ingested foods.

To maintain good health, food choices change with the seasons. Summer is a time of growth and maturation of flowers and vegetables. The qi of the plant is the most vital when the plant blooms. It is also a season of increased heat and activity.

The foods that we consume in the summer should help to keep us cool and energized. Foods with cool properties can clear heat, reduce toxins and generate body fluids. Eating more organic, locally grown raw fruits and vegetables at this time of year is ideal, particularly if you have strong Spleen and Stomach systems.

Foods that are cooling tend towards the green end of the color spectrum. Lettuce, cucumbers and watercress are some of the coolest. Fish and seafood are more cooling, whereas most meats are warming.

Below are some suggestions for foods to be sure to include in the summer diet. Be aware that melons are very cooling, and when eaten alone, can produce dampness. If eaten as a part of the meal or as a dessert, their cool nature can also slow the digestive process of the meal.

Fruits:
Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Lemon, Orange, Peach, Apricot, Pear

Vegetables:

Snow Peas, Asparagus, Spinach, Bamboo, Sprouts, Bok Choy, Watercress, Broccoli, Summer Squash, Cucumber, Chinese Cabbage, Corn, White Mushrooms, Seaweed, Winter Melons

Legumes:
Mung Beans, White Lentils

Spices:
Cilantro, Mint, Dill

General Guidelines for Summertime Eating:

• Increase foods with the yin qualities of being moist and cooling. The most yin of foods are fruits followed by vegetables. Overeating yin nourishing foods can create dampness by taxing the Spleen system. Chinese medicine recognizes that dampness can help to hold health conditions in place, so be cautious not to eat only yin nourishing foods.
• Reduce the foods with the yang qualities of concentration and heat. These are proteins such as meats, nuts, seeds, beans, fats, dairy products, eggs and whole grains.
• Have a variety of colors on your plate and an abundant variety of vegetables.
• Cook lightly, steaming or simmering foods as quickly as possible.
• Use little salt and more water.
• Drink hot liquids and take warm showers to induce sudden sweating and to cool the body.
• Drink flower and leaf teas like chrysanthemum, mint and chamomile. (See recipe on previous page.)
• Slice a cucumber or lemon and place it in a pitcher of water. Sip it through the day for a nice, refreshing drink that is tasty and cooling.
• Avoid iced drinks and ice cream as the cold temperature causes the digestion to slow and depletes the Spleen's energy.
• Avoid heavy foods such as meats and too many nuts, seeds, and grains, especially on hotter days, since these can cause sluggishness.

Strive to Acquire the Following Eating Habits:

• Chew your food well.
• Stop eating when you are seven-tenths full to enhance digestion and to support the body's ability to properly process waste products.
• Eat in a quiet, non-stressful atmosphere.
• Finish your last meal of the day three hours before bedtime.
• Eat a diet of primarily lightly cooked foods, especially if you have weak digestion.

Remember to eat colorful, lightly prepared meals, to be active and outgoing, and to nourish your mind and spirit as you enjoy your summer.

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Cold Chrysanthemum Tea for the Summertime

The recipe below was published by Diane Joswick, L. Ac. This tea is especially good to quench thirst. I have modified the amounts of the chrysanthemum green tea and water in the recipe to make a smaller amount.

Ingredients:

15-20 White Chrysanthemum Flowers
1 teaspoons of Jasmine Yinhao Green Tea
Honey
1 liter of water

Instructions:

Wash the chrysanthemum.
Put chrysanthemum and tea into a cook pot.
Pour in 1 liter of water and bring it to boiling.
Reduce heat and continue to cook for 20 minutes.
Put in the honey.
Remove pot from the heat and allow tea to cool till room temperature.
Strain the tea and put into refrigerator.

Serve the tea slightly chilled.

Enjoy your summer!

Cleansing With Chinese Medicine

By Eric Aufdencamp, D.O.M., L.Ac.

Most traditions and cultures around the world employ some type of cleansing regimen for the body and spirit. Some people fast from all solid foods, while others eliminate all animal products. The duration varies greatly depending on the tradition. It may be as little as one day, or up to several weeks.

In Chinese Medicine, we use theory to advise our patients about cleansing protocols, adapted to their particular constitutional weaknesses or strengths.

Chinese Medicine theory believes good health is nurtured by respecting the cycles of nature. For example, the sun is at its peak mid-day and therefore, our digestive ‘heat’ is at its strongest during this time. That is why it is best to eat heavier meals around noon and lighter ones in the evening.

The change of seasons, especially winter to spring and late summer to fall, are ideal times to implement cleansing routines. Your body is more susceptible to illness during these times, so cleansing is an excellent method of prevention.

The therapeutic properties of food and herbs are determined by their flavor. It is ideal to include all of the different flavors in your diet.

• Bitter, for example clears heat, inflammation and dries excess pathological moisture. Sweet strengthens the digestive system.
  
• Sweet flavors, as used in Chinese Medicine, refer to the sweetness of grains, vegetables and legumes.
  
• Sour is astringent and stops the leakage of body fluids.
  
• Pungent flavors disperse and induce sweating.
  
• Salty flavors soften hardness.
  

These flavors can be incorporated into your diet to balance imbalances, while any flavor used excessively or inappropriately, may create an imbalance.

Dampness in Chinese Medicine refers to an accumulation of moisture in the body and has both external and internal causes. Dampness can manifest in many different ways: yeast infections, nasal congestion, chest congestion, and skin conditions with discharge.

Foods that create dampness include: alcohol, peanuts, concentrated sweeteners and juices, tropical fruits, and wheat and dairy products. Reducing or eliminating these, will reduce the possibility that you will experience damp conditions.

As practitioners, we use these guidelines to determine a tailor-made cleansing regimen for each individual patient, which is based on their specific personal constitution:

• Weak, cold, thin, nervous constitutions with dry skin and hair should limit their intake of bitter flavors.
• Overweight people who have a sluggish digestive system or any signs of excess phlegm (chronic nasal congestion, yeast infections, etc.) should limit the intake of sweet foods. Sweet is a beneficial flavor for thin, fatigued, easily startled, and nervous constitutions.
• Sour astringes and binds so use it cautiously if you are constipated. If you have acute or chronic pain, it may create more tightness in the muscles, ligaments and tendons.
• Pungent flavors should be used sparingly in dry, nervous, weak, and thin people. Warming pungent flavors (garlic, cloves, hot peppers) should be avoided with any heat signs or inflammation. People that are dull, lethargic or overweight can benefit from this flavor the most.
• Salty flavors are good for thin, dry, nervous people. Overweight, lethargic people and those with edema (fluid accumulation) should limit their intake of this flavor, which includes seaweeds, barley and millet.
  

For best results, consult your practitioner so they can customize a protocol for your constitutional needs.

Here is a general cleansing regimen:

Eat only organic fruits and vegetables preferably locally grown and organic whole grains like brown rice, millet, and quinoa. You can also eat sprouted grain bread. Only use cold pressed oils such as olive oil and flax seed oil.

Foods that are restricted:
Sugar, coffee, tea (caffeinated), white flour, refined foods, fried foods, alcohol, soy products, animal products, drugs, peanuts and peanut oil

Foods that aid detoxification:
Beets, artichokes, onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, mustard greens, beet greens, collard, kale, chard, sprouts, romaine lettuce, sea vegetables, daikon radish, turnips, figs, apples

Signs and Symptoms of detoxification:
Headaches, fatigue, dizziness, “withdrawal” symptoms, emotional processing, rash, runny nose, generalized body aches, “foggy” head.

References: Pitchford, Paul, Healing With Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition, pp. 270-276.

The Season For Local Farmers Markets Is Here!

By Joshua Herr, L.Ac.

Asheville's area farmers' markets are in full swing. Now's the time to take advantage of them, and their increasingly abundant fresh produce. My favorite market to go to is on the UNCA campus. It is called the North Asheville Tail Gate Market.

Reading In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan illustrates to me the importance of the foods I choose to eat and where they come from. Michael Pollan suggests we should: “Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants” as the answer to the question of what we should eat in order to be maximally healthy.

In our modern time and culture, we have more food choices and diet recommendations then ever before. Many of our modern food choices are industrialized, processed foods with the latest nutritional trend plastered on the cover of the box to persuade us that their product would be the best choice for achieving maximal health.

For example, Kellogg’s Fruit Loops Smoothie boasts itself as a good source of calcium. However, this highly industrialized food contains so much processing, and the end product contains such highly refined grains, food coloring and preservatives, any nutrients that have been added during processing are outweighed by the ill effects of this processing. Can we really call this food or is this imitation food?

As a parent, I am distressed by how many processed food products target children and their parents for the fun and convenience of them.

Michael Pollan suggests these guidelines for defining a product as food versus imitation food:

1. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize.

2. Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup.

3. Avoid food products that make health claims.

4. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. (Produce, meat, fish and dairy line the walls of most grocery stores, while the more processed foods are found in the center.)

5. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. (This is where the farmer’s market, gardening and wild-crafting come into play.)

This season visit your local farmers' markets weekly. You will be supporting your local economy and making the best food choice possible: real food.

Shopping at the farmers' market also provides us with a needed diversity of food in our diet. The foods that are available at the market will change with the seasons, and the abundance of products that are harvested by the farmer during the growing season typically makes the farmers' market prices cheaper than the supermarket.

Click here for a list farmer’s markets in our area.

I hope to see you there!