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Articles by Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac

Acupuncture Articles

Moxabustion Versus Acupuncture

Chinese and Japanese style moxabustion, or moxa,  has may applications in Chinese Medicine. Its an integral part of any authentic acupuncture practice. Moxabustion involves warming the acupuncture area/point with the processed leaves of Artemesia Vulgaris, wild...

read more

Dry Needling and Acupuncture Together

Can Dry Needling and Acupuncture Work Together? Dry Needling vs. Acupuncture: Releasing Trigger Points while Opening up Qi flow People often ask whether Dry Needling and Acupuncture Together work as well as either alone?  In fact the most sophisticated understanding...

read more

Essential Oils for Acne

Essential Oils for Acne are part of my protocol for curing Cystic and Hormonal Acne with Acupuncture,  Ayurveda, and Chinese Herbal Medicine. I have been specializing in the treatment of Cystic and Hormonal Acne in my San Diego Acupuncture and Natural Medicine...

read more

Acupuncture for Cystic Acne

Acupuncture for Cystic Acne Acupuncture for cystic acne is very powerful and has an immediate, almost miraculous effect. Styles of Acupuncture There are many different styles of Acupuncture. The oldest is Classical Chinese acupuncture. That is what I use when I treat...

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Acupuncture for Headaches

Acupuncture for Headaches--Treat the Symptoms and The Causes, Part 2   Acupuncture for Headaches along with Dry Needling gives immediate relief from tension and migraine headache pain. We continue now from this previous article Acupuncture for Tension Headaches,...

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Dry Needling for Neck Pain

I have used Dry Needling for Neck Pain in my San Diego Acupuncture clinic for 27 years on close to one thousand people. Dry Needling provides very quick relief from all kinds of chronic and acute neck pain. It successfully treats:   Numbness and Tingling in the...

read more
Psychosomatic Illness and Acupuncture

Psychosomatic Illness and Acupuncture

Psychosomatic Illness and Acupuncture There is a very interesting report recently in the Guardian newspaper on the recent dramatic crisis between the USA and Cuba which, apparently, involves a case of mass psychosomatic illness and brings to mind the fact that...

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Cure Insomnia Permanently

Cure Insomnia Permanently

Cure Insomnia Permanently With Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Its very possible to cure Insomnia permanently with Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Mindfulness Practice, Body Scanning, and the development of what specialists call Sleep Hygiene or Sleep...

read more
Acupuncture Meridians

Acupuncture Meridians

What are Acupuncture Meridians? Acupuncture “meridians” are the pathways through which our body's Qi (pronounced "Chee") energy  flows, as described in the seminal medical text the Nei Jing around 200 B.C.E.. But the term meridian, coined by the Jesuit Priests who...

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Cupping Therapy for Myofascial Pain

Cupping Therapy for Myofascial Pain is an integral part of Classical Chinese acupuncture  and is very useful for myofascial pain and sports medicine b/c it breaks up adhesions in the fascia and brings new blood to the area when capillaries are deliberately ruptured.....

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Summer in Chinese Medicine

The discussion of Summer in Chinese Medicine  begins with a book written in somewhere between 400 and 200 B.C.E., called the Huang Di Nei Jing, called The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic of Medicine. This is the Old Testament of Classical Chinese Medicine, our oldest...

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Acupuncture for Neck Pain

Acupuncture for Neck Pain: A recent article in Time magazine has this byline:   Acupuncture Actually Works for Neck Pain I love the qualifier "actually".  As if after 40 years of acupuncture in the USA, anyone would be surprised. When I began my acupuncture practice...

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Dry Needling for Shoulder Pain

Dry Needling for Shoulder PainDry Needling for Shoulder Pain   What is Dry Needling? Dry Needling is a needle therapy used  to relieve trigger points . Dry needling was pioneered by Janet Travell, M.D., author of "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: Trigger Point...

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The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger

Liver Qi, Pitta Dosha, and The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger and Aggression Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda both describe how hot weather increases anger and aggression in humans. It describes in detail how and why hot weather increases levels of aggression by...

read more

Acupuncture for Pain Relief

Acupuncture vs. Drugs for Pain Relief Doctor Denial Syndrome One of my many pet peeves regarding the neglect of Acupuncture for Pain Relief in Bio Medicine/Western Medicine.  How can such smart people be so smart some of the time, and so dumb other of the time? The...

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Acupuncture for Allergies

How I Use Acupuncture for Allergies   People suffering from Allergies and Sinusitis in Autumn here in San Diego dread the dry, hot, winds that blow in from the high desert during our “Santa Ana” conditions. The problem for allergy sufferers is that the dry hot...

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Chinese Herbs for GERD

Chinese Herbs for GERD Chinese herbs for GERD--Gastro Esophogeal Reflux Disease, formerly called chronic heartburn, work better and faster than drugs do. That's because they actually help to change the functioning of the tissues causeing the discomfort, the stomic and...

read more

Acupuncture for Pain Relief

Acupuncture for pain relief in San Diego!  I use acupuncture to treat Acute and Chronic Pain, Sports Injuries and Repetitive Use Injuries. Unlike drugs, acupuncture removes the cause of your pain, and not just your symptoms. Acupuncure, and dry needling, as completely...

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Myofascial Pain Relief with Dry Needling

  Definition and History of Dry Needling, Trigger Points and Trigger Point Acupuncture The Term Dry Needling--History Dry Needling is a term first coined  by M.D. clinicians and researchers in England and the USA who treated myofascial pain, or  trigger point pain by...

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Moxabustion for Menstrual Bleeding and Fibroids

Acupuncture and Moxabustion for Menstrual Bleeding, Menopause, and Fibroids Acupuncture, Moxabustion, and Chinese Herbal Medicine are first line treatments for a wide range of Woman's Health/Gynecological health issues. Acupuncture and Moxabustion are specifically...

read more

Healing Eczema with Integrative Natural Medicine

Disease occurs in individual human beings. Your and my unique characteristics of body and mind are the particular terrain from whence our imbalances grow. Disease is always easier to treat if the terrain is healthy, and often impossible to treat successfully if it is...

read more

Acupuncture in Cancer Treatment

Acupuncture in Cancer Treatment: What Is It Used For Acupuncture provides a total approach to supportive health care for people with cancer using Biomedicine. It can be used to address many of the concerns that come up during and after chemotherapy, radiation,...

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Dry Needling

Dry Needling and Acupuncture Together

Can Dry Needling and Acupuncture Work Together? Dry Needling vs. Acupuncture: Releasing Trigger Points while Opening up Qi flow People often ask whether Dry Needling and Acupuncture Together work as well as either alone?  In fact the most sophisticated understanding...

Acupuncture for Headaches

Acupuncture for Headaches--Treat the Symptoms and The Causes, Part 2   Acupuncture for Headaches along with Dry Needling gives immediate relief from tension and migraine headache pain. We continue now from this previous article Acupuncture for Tension Headaches,...

Dry Needling for Neck Pain

I have used Dry Needling for Neck Pain in my San Diego Acupuncture clinic for 27 years on close to one thousand people. Dry Needling provides very quick relief from all kinds of chronic and acute neck pain. It successfully treats:   Numbness and Tingling in the...

Trigger Point Acupuncture and Dry Needling

Trigger Point Acupuncture and Dry Needling I am reprinting this article on Trigger Point Acupuncture and Dry Needling that I wrote back in 2009, for my friend Anthony Carey, the owner of Function First here in San Diego. Function First is a system of corrective...

Cupping Therapy for Myofascial Pain

Cupping Therapy for Myofascial Pain is an integral part of Classical Chinese acupuncture  and is very useful for myofascial pain and sports medicine b/c it breaks up adhesions in the fascia and brings new blood to the area when capillaries are deliberately ruptured.....

Acupuncture for Neck Pain

Acupuncture for Neck Pain: A recent article in Time magazine has this byline:   Acupuncture Actually Works for Neck Pain I love the qualifier "actually".  As if after 40 years of acupuncture in the USA, anyone would be surprised. When I began my acupuncture practice...

Dry Needling for Shoulder Pain

Dry Needling for Shoulder PainDry Needling for Shoulder Pain   What is Dry Needling? Dry Needling is a needle therapy used  to relieve trigger points . Dry needling was pioneered by Janet Travell, M.D., author of "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: Trigger Point...

Myofascial Pain Relief with Dry Needling

  Definition and History of Dry Needling, Trigger Points and Trigger Point Acupuncture The Term Dry Needling--History Dry Needling is a term first coined  by M.D. clinicians and researchers in England and the USA who treated myofascial pain, or  trigger point pain by...

Acupuncture in Cancer Treatment

Acupuncture in Cancer Treatment: What Is It Used For Acupuncture provides a total approach to supportive health care for people with cancer using Biomedicine. It can be used to address many of the concerns that come up during and after chemotherapy, radiation,...

Cupping Articles

Moxabustion Versus Acupuncture

Chinese and Japanese style moxabustion, or moxa,  has may applications in Chinese Medicine. Its an integral part of any authentic acupuncture practice. Moxabustion involves warming the acupuncture area/point with the processed leaves of Artemesia Vulgaris, wild...

Dry Needling for Shoulder Pain

Dry Needling for Shoulder PainDry Needling for Shoulder Pain   What is Dry Needling? Dry Needling is a needle therapy used  to relieve trigger points . Dry needling was pioneered by Janet Travell, M.D., author of "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: Trigger Point...

Moxibustion and Cupping

oxibustion is the burning of cones made from the processed fine leaves of the Mugwort plant on Acupuncture points, or on broad areas of the body to achieve specific healing effects. Moxabustion is warm, and as heat is an energy source, it is a way...

Moxabustion for Menstrual Bleeding and Fibroids

Acupuncture and Moxabustion for Menstrual Bleeding, Menopause, and Fibroids Acupuncture, Moxabustion, and Chinese Herbal Medicine are first line treatments for a wide range of Woman's Health/Gynecological health issues. Acupuncture and Moxabustion are specifically...

Chinese Medicine Articles

What is Chinese Herbal Medicine

What Is Chinese Herbal Medicine? Chinese Herbal Medicine is one of the therapeutic methods of Classical Chinese Medicine. Classical Chinese Medicine is a 2200 year old written tradition, created by the literate intelligentsia of ancient China. The people that invented...

Herbs for Damp Heat in TCM

A person asked me what about Herbs for Damp Heat in TCM  on Quora. Here is my off the cuff answer Damp Heat in TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, the term coined in the Communist era for what we now just call Chinese Medicine, is associated with an array of symptoms...

Source Natural’s Wellness Formula For Colds and Flu

Source Naturals Wellness Formula for Cold and Flu--The Right and Wrong Way to Use Source Natural's Wellness Formula is one of my favorite herbal mixes for certain kinds of cold and for flu. Let's be clear though--no herb formula is a substitute for staying home in...

Ayurvedic Dandelion Greens for Spring

Ayurvedic Dandelion Greens for Spring are a great cleansing vegetable, excellent year round, but especially good in Spring. They are a wonderful Sattvic food that helps to cleanse the body of the ama dosha that accumulates naturally over the winter months. Green...

Essential Oils for Acne

Essential Oils for Acne are part of my protocol for curing Cystic and Hormonal Acne with Acupuncture,  Ayurveda, and Chinese Herbal Medicine. I have been specializing in the treatment of Cystic and Hormonal Acne in my San Diego Acupuncture and Natural Medicine...

Winter Bone Broth

Bone Marrow Soup, Part 2: Winter In cold weather its natural to crave warm food. And the alchemical transformation of solids into liquids, of vegetables and meats or bones into soup, is a way of liberating the essence of these foodstuff into a substance that is much...

Spring in Chinese Medicine

Spring in Chinese Medicine

Movement, Wind, Moisture, Cold Spring is a time of transition and change, when the contractive cold moist Yin energies of Winter gradually give way to the expansive hot Yang energies of Summer. Spring in Chinese Medicine is a process that involves movement and wind,...

Vegan Land and Sea Vegetable Soup for Spring

Vegan Land and Sea Vegetable Soup is a gentle way to cleanse and renew the body in Spring, or whenever you feel weak or are recovering from illness. It relies on the deep flavors of root vegetables, sea vegetables, and shitake mushroom. It is a simple soup with subtle...

Winter Cleanse Soup with Burdock, Dandelion, and Kombu

Winter Cleanse Soup with Burdock, Dandelion, and Kombu

  A Winter Cleanse Soup is a good remedy for the overeating of heavy rich foods that occurs around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. So, at the end of January, or in Early Spring, restor  your gut microbiome by making a Chinese Medicine Soup with...

Cure Insomnia Permanently

Cure Insomnia Permanently

Cure Insomnia Permanently With Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Its very possible to cure Insomnia permanently with Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Mindfulness Practice, Body Scanning, and the development of what specialists call Sleep Hygiene or Sleep...

Cold Causes Stagnation Heat Causes Movement

From today's newspaper comes this cool article about a fruitcake that has survived, in nearly edible condition (probably actually edible, as all that is reported is a slightly rancid butter smell), for 100 years at the South Pole in Antarctica. Which brings to mind...

Chinese Medicine on Weight Loss

Weight Loss in Chinese Medicine Chinese Medicine places our diet as a cornerstone, along with good sleep and a positive mental approach to life, as the cornerstones of health. Here is what Chinese medicine has to say about weight loss as we age When I taught nutrition...

Is Daily Sweating Important for Health?

Someone asked me the other day, "Why is daily sweating important for health?" My response was, "Is it?" I don’t think there is any scientific evidence that sweating is especially beneficial for health. I have seen claims made, but I have not seen hard core research....

Lipedema and Chinese Medicine

Lipedema and Chinese Medicine. Lynette wrote in and asked, "Can you explain what excess a body with Lipedema has. Are they damp diseases! feedback most welcomed for myself and my support groups!" Lipedema is a a disorder of the adipose (fat) tissue that occurs almost...

Roasted Garabanzo Cookies

Roasted Garabanzo Cookies are descended, in my brain, from the dry roasted split chickpea (pottu kadalai..பொட்டுக்கடலை)  I used to eat when I was a protein starved vegetarian monk in Tamil Nadu, South India, as a youth. Roasted Garabanzo are a favorite snack in South...

Winter Jing Tonic Cabbage Soup

Winter Jing Tonic Cabbage Soup is an ideal way to nourish  what Chinese Medicine calls the Kidney Qi, associated with the deepest level of body energy, the Jing, or Essence. Growth, reproduction, basic energy levels, strength, and mental faculties are all associated...

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency   is very common in people over 50, and in people who use drugs that reduce stomach acid, and also that take the antidiabetes drug Metforman. I find Vitamin B-12 supplementation very valuable in the treatment of neurological disorders,...

Chinese Medical History

Chinese Medical History and the Beginnings of Scienctific Thought Chinese Medical History, like the medicines of the ancient Eygptians, Hindus, and Sumerians goes back to at least 1200 BCE when the Chinese were already making Gold Acupuncture needles. Eratosthenes in...

Twelve Ways to Heal Eczema Naturally

Here are twelve ways to heal allergic eczema (atopic dermatitis) naturally that I have developed over the years of specializing in the treatment of skin disorders with Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. One of my first cases in the clinic as a student at...

Ayurvedic Hibiscus Summer Tea

Ayurvedic Hibiscus Summer Tea is naturally Pitta pacifying. This means its cooling and refreshing in the hot summer months, especially in the late summer Santa Ana conditions here in San Diego with the dry dusty weather. At the same time, because of its slight sour...

Qi, Sweating, and Fear

What Is Qi What the Chinese call Qi , and what Ayurveda calls Prana, is the Vital Life Force that moves things, quite literally, and also that creates growth and decay. Qi and Prana are what moves things quite literally on so many levels.  Its only a living body that...

Menopause Natural Treatment: Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

In Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda Menopause Natural Treatment begins with the premise that menopause, and andropause, like puberty, like the transitions that occurs around ages 2, 5, and 36, are just that, transitions, not diseases. We get symptoms because of the wild...

Popular Heartburn Medicine Increases Risk for Dementia

Proton Pump Inhibitors Linked to Higher Dementia Risk: The Chinese Medicine Alternatives We face a national epidemic of Dementia as baby boomers who have spent years on Heartburn Medication like Prilosec, Protonixx, and Nexium,  hit their 60's and 70's, while at the...

Winter and Sleep in Chinese Medicine: Kidney Qi

Winter and Sleep in Chinese Medicine: Kidney Qi   Its Winter. Classical Chinese Medicine has this to say about it. "Go to sleep early, but get up LATE, after the sun has risen." Makes total sense because as an animal you don't want to waste your valuable energy...

Peanut Allergy and Infants

I happened upon an article in the Guardian newspaper describing  how giving peanut products in small amounts to infants under twelve months who are at risk of developing peanut allergy (those with eczema)  may prevent peanut allergy in future..  As someone who...

Ginger In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

Ginger Root: Universal Medicine There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble Ginger root. Ginger is called "Vishabhesaj" in Ayurveda, Sanskrit for "universal medicine." That is both because of its wide...

Winter Bone Broth, Part 1

Winter Bone Broth--Extract Jing and Replenish What's Been Lost Bone broth, or what we call bone marrow soup in Chinese Medicine is just the rage right now, and for good reason. Extracting the mineral essence of solid things, like bones and root vegetables, into liquid...

Food Coloring and Hyperactivity

Food Coloring, ADD, and Environmental Toxins in Chinese Medicine   As I mentioned in this previous post, Environmental Toxins are considered one of the Miscellaneous Causes of Disease in Chinese Medicine, the other Causes of Disease in Chinese Medicine being...

The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger

Liver Qi, Pitta Dosha, and The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger and Aggression Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda both describe how hot weather increases anger and aggression in humans. It describes in detail how and why hot weather increases levels of aggression by...

Nuts as Weight Loss Aid

This news does not surprise me, as in Ayurveda nuts are in the category of Rasayana--foods that promote health and longevity. They benefit the deepest  layers of the body, Ojas, commesurate with what Chinese Medicine calls Jing or Essence. As such you will find nuts...

Autumn in Chinese Medicine

Autumn Fall utumn in Chinese Medicine is the time of falling, hence its secondary name. Spring up, Fall down.  In fact we even use the word autumn to describe a period in the human life span, the autumnal years, a period of beautiful maturity that...

SIGNS OF EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE DIGESTION

  “Good Digestion, Good Sleep, Good Prognosis.”  --Old Chinese Medical Adage:   The digestive tract is the inner core of the body. Good digestion is one of the foundations of health. Our body’s very cells are built from the food that we eat and the oxygen that...

Healthy Summer Fruit Tart

A Healthy Summer Fruit Tart is a nutrient dense food full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, flavanoids, antioxidants, and protein, with high amounts of life force from fresh ripe, organic ingredients, and without what's bad for you--white sugar, artificial stuff,...

Are Goji Berries Best Eaten Raw or Cooked?

The people ask: are Goji berries best eaten raw or cooked? This is my response to the following question sent in. Eyton, I received a box of dried fructus lycii, (goji berries)from a friend and on the back of the box it says ‘this product needs to clean and cook...

Goji Berries in Chinese Herbal Medicine

I got to thinking about Goji Berries in Chinese Herbal Medicine  recently, when someone wrote in to ask whether Goji berries are best eaten raw or cooked? The following is my response to the following question sent in. Eyton, I received a box of dried fructus lycii,...

Come in from the Cold Ayurveda Winter Tea

Tonight it was quite cold for San Diego and I walked to my friend's house and then we went out again, so when we came back in I made an Ayurveda winter tea.  We put on a small kettle and I placed in the tea pot: Fresh Ginger Slices, 5 Cloves 4 Cassia Twig 1 inch,...

Summer Raw Beet, Sardine, and Pasta Salad

Summer is a time when even cold dry (Vata) types or cold damp (Kapha) types can have little more raw foods. One of the ways to make raw foods more compatible for cold types with weaker digestive energy (Agni/Spleen Qi) is to have it in small amounts with other foods...

Chinese Herbs for GERD

Chinese Herbs for GERD Chinese herbs for GERD--Gastro Esophogeal Reflux Disease, formerly called chronic heartburn, work better and faster than drugs do. That's because they actually help to change the functioning of the tissues causeing the discomfort, the stomic and...

Heaven Mountain Goji Berry

Goji Berry Super Food Lots of foods are super foods, in terms of anti-oxidant or anti-biotic value, like cabbage, nettles, and onions. One that has received a lot of well deserved hype are "Goji Berries" or Gou Qi Zi in Chinese Medicine and Culture. Gou Qi Zi are...

Baked Butternut Squash and Black Bean Stew

Cooking Methods in Chinese Food Medicine: From Warm to Hot to Very Hot One of the aspects of Food Medicine we pay attention to in Chinese Medicine is the cooking method itself. Each method of cooking adds relative values of heat to the dish being prepared. Steaming...

Importance of Diet in Chinese Medicine

Over the millenia Chinese physicians developed a very effective and scientific (empirical) model for assessing health and disease. Practitioners assess a person’s health by feeling the quality of the pulses at each wrist, and by observing the color and form of the...

Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine, sometimes called TCM, or just Chinese Medicine,  is a complete medical system that has diagnosed, treated, and prevented illness for over 2300 years. Imagine, for a moment, that  the medicine of Hippocrates, the father of western...

Top Ten Foods to Lower Cholesterol

In my San Diego acupuncture and Ayurveda practice I see a lot of patients with high cholesterol whose doctors want to or have put them on Statin drugs. Some of them are even on multiple versions.But statin drugs are not without a frightening array of risks-- pain,...

Eden Foods Bisphenol-A (BPH) -free cans

The only brand I know of that has BPH- free cans is Eden, a company that has been operating out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, since the 60's. Still, I always recommend if you use any canned beans, always wash them really well. You don't know what is in the liquid they are...

Provencal Style Lima Bean Summer Soup

Lima Bean Summer Soup Live with the Seasons. Summer is a time to replenish fluids and eat more cool foods. On really hot days we may not feel like hot food. Pureed vegetable or bean soup nourishes the Agni or "Spleen Qi" with healthy herbs and spices, yet is great at...

Green Tea Health Benefits

Green Tea Health Benefits   Some info from a workshop a few years ago at Halcyon Tea shop in South Park, San Diego on green tea health benefits from the perspective of modern science. In fact Oolong and Pu-erh tea also have enormous health benefits, and even...

Winter Seasonal Eating

Winter Seasonal Eating In Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda winter seasonal eating is common sensical. Just as its natural to eat and drink cooling things in summer, winter is the time we maintain body heat with warming foods and herbs....

Afghani Winter Turnips

Mr. Zia's Afghani Winter Turnips One of my favorite  places for home cooking in San Diego years past was Mr. Zia's Afghan restaurant, on 30th St. in North Park. Mr. Zia became a friend, and even took me to the Afghani mosque during Ramadan. He served an array of...

Chinese Herbs for Morning Sickness

Chinese Herbs for Morning Sickness   Chinese herbs for morning sickness work very well, as do other herbs and diet tricks, that I will explain, below. Morning Sickness refers to Nausea in Pregnancy. It does not have to be in the morning, it can occur any time of...

Burdock Root Detox Drink

Burdock Root for Detoxification in Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda Burdock Root Detox Drink is a decongesting, heat clearing, detoxifying beverage that clears toxic heat and dampness, called Pitta and Ama in Ayurveda. While cleansing toxins from the body, it also...

Arugala, Purslane, Mizuna Green Salad with Feta and Fava

Boy the Hillcrest, San Diego Farmer's Market has gotten better and better as more and more people are understanding the value of Organic, Locally Grown Produce. In fact, anyone with four square feet of land, or even one or two wine barrels* and some decent sun can...

Fasting in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

Fasting in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine Fasting in Ayurveda Ayurveda believes that light fasting can greatly benefit your health. Light fasting healthfully stimulates the digestive fire of your entire gut, from your salivary glands to your large intestine, including...

Healing Eczema with Integrative Natural Medicine

Disease occurs in individual human beings. Your and my unique characteristics of body and mind are the particular terrain from whence our imbalances grow. Disease is always easier to treat if the terrain is healthy, and often impossible to treat successfully if it is...

What Is a Healthy Digestive Tract

What Are the Signs of a Healthy Digestive Tract? A healthy digestive tract is marked by "good appetite, good digestion and good elimination." This will produce a clean tongue coating, a postive feeling after eating, and regular, easy, productive elimination. What is...

Healing Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine. It should not be confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Ulcerative colitis is characterized by the presence of inflammation and ulceration in the intestinal mucosa. The chief...

Teff n’ Quinoa Gluten Free Pancakes Recipe

  Teff n' Quinoa Gluten Free Vegan Pancakes Recipe Autumn and Winter are ideal times for the warming, grounding quality of of pancakes. But why use pre-packaged, over-salted, sugary, low-fiber pancake mixes whose pre-ground grains may or may not be fresh, when...

Immunity Boosting Foods in Ayurveda

  Immunity Boosting Foods Immunity boosting foods are those that are full of Prana-- freshly made and well prepared, organic, easy to digest, and pure. Tailored to our individual body-mind type (prakruti), age, and the season, they fill the body with Prana...

Ayurveda Articles

Morroccan Beet Salad for Vata Dosha

Here's a Beet Salad for Vata Dosha I learned from my Morrocan friend Edith that I like to make in Autumn and Spring as a side dish with heavier food. Beet are an excellent Vata vegetable as they are easy-to-digest and, like turnip and radish, and excellent digestive...

Neem for Skin and Detox

Neem for Skin and Detox Ayurveda  uses Neem leaf and oil more than any other herb for Skin problems from A to Z.  . Neem leaf extract is taken by mouth for Skin disorders from Acne and Hives to Eczema and Psoriasis. Neem oil is used topically on tinea, fungal...

Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu

When fighting a cold or the flu ramp up your Agni internal fire by drinking a quart a day of Dr. Wickermasinghe's Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu.  Yes, the flu and colds are caused by viruses. But nursing is a vital part of medicine. Staying warm, pushing hot...

Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds in Winter

Ayurvedic Diet Matched to the Season and Dosh: Use Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds   When we speak about using Ayurveda to Prevent Flu and Colds in Winter, we are talking creating the healthiest immune system possible. Yes, flu is caused by a virus. By why do...

Essential Oils for Acne

Essential Oils for Acne are part of my protocol for curing Cystic and Hormonal Acne with Acupuncture,  Ayurveda, and Chinese Herbal Medicine. I have been specializing in the treatment of Cystic and Hormonal Acne in my San Diego Acupuncture and Natural Medicine...

Pacify Kapha in Late Winter Early Spring

  There is a reason to Pacify Kapha in Late Winter and Early Spring. Kapha Dosha rises naturally in all of us in when the snows melt, the rivers flood, and even in coastal Southern California the earth is moist from the Winter rains. But the nights are still long...

Ayurvedic Kitchari

What is Kitchari? Kitchari is a Sattvic, light, easy-to-digest, cleansing, detoxifying food that is excellent once a week, at the change of seasons, or any time you feel like giving your digestive system a break. It is also just a normal one-pot-dish you can have for...

Health Benefits of Bacopa

  Bacopa Monierri, or Brahmi, in Sanskrit,  is a rejuvenative tonic and sedative used in Ayurveda to strengthen the heart and nervous system. Uses of Bacopa in Ayurveda Bacopa is classified as Bitter and Hot in Ayurveda, yet it pacifies both Pitta and Kapha...

Kapha in Spring

Kapha in Spring

Dealing With the Kapha in Spring "Spring becomes what Winter was..."  This line from an ancient poet is a perfect expression of the philosophy of preventive medicine that is at the heart of Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine. It explains why we have to deal with the...

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha People who are Pitta dosha dominant can certainly have more cooling food, as well as raw food that is cooling such as cucumber lettuce and leafy cruciferous veggies sweet fruits coconut flesh, water, and milk milk, butter, ghee And Pitta...

Is Daily Sweating Important for Health?

Someone asked me the other day, "Why is daily sweating important for health?" My response was, "Is it?" I don’t think there is any scientific evidence that sweating is especially beneficial for health. I have seen claims made, but I have not seen hard core research....

Chinese Medical History

Chinese Medical History and the Beginnings of Scienctific Thought Chinese Medical History, like the medicines of the ancient Eygptians, Hindus, and Sumerians goes back to at least 1200 BCE when the Chinese were already making Gold Acupuncture needles. Eratosthenes in...

Ayurvedic Summer Cabbage Salad with Beet and Onion

Ayurvedic Summer Cabbage Salad with Beet and Onion I am a huge fan of cabbage salad. When I was a strict vegetarian it must have been its hearty quality and chewy texture that appealed. Now that I am an omnivore, I value cabbage both for its delicious, slightly sweet...

ProPita Tea by R-U-Ved

ProPita Tea is a delicious blend of cooling herbs and spices that makes a naturally refreshing summer tea, whether drunk hot in the morning or room temperature/cool during the day. I  love to brew a quart of ProPita tea in the hot weather with two bags, brewing it...

Benefits of Triphala

  The Benefits of Triphala   Triphala literally means “three fruits.” It is made from equal amounts of three powerful Ayurvedic herbs. These three herbs are called Amalaki, Bibhitaki, and Haritaki in Sanskrit, the language of Ayurveda and the Vedic classics...

Menopause Natural Treatment: Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

In Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda Menopause Natural Treatment begins with the premise that menopause, and andropause, like puberty, like the transitions that occurs around ages 2, 5, and 36, are just that, transitions, not diseases. We get symptoms because of the wild...

Ayurvedic Winter Spice Churna

Ayurvedic Winter Spice Churna are "masalas" (spice mixtures) used to boost immunity by improving digestion and stimulating Agni digestive fire. They are used year round, but can be especially good in Winter and also for Ama/toxin accumulation. They can be tailored to...

Winter and Sleep in Chinese Medicine: Kidney Qi

Winter and Sleep in Chinese Medicine: Kidney Qi   Its Winter. Classical Chinese Medicine has this to say about it. "Go to sleep early, but get up LATE, after the sun has risen." Makes total sense because as an animal you don't want to waste your valuable energy...

Smoothies for Vata Dosha

Smoothies for Vata Dosha--Part One A reader had this comment recently about Smoothies for Vata Dosha, after reading this article about Raw Veggies or Salad for a Vatta Dominant Person. Are Smoothies Better than Juicing for Vata Dosha? "I see that the key here is to...

Ginger In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

Ginger Root: Universal Medicine There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble Ginger root. Ginger is called "Vishabhesaj" in Ayurveda, Sanskrit for "universal medicine." That is both because of its wide...

Strategies to Pacify Pitta in Summer Heat

There are many ways to pacify the Pitta which becomes elevated with the oppressive heat of summer. Some are good for you, like cooling teas and juicy cooling fruits, others are unhealthy, like air conditioning, especially turned down low, which attacks the surface of...

Agni Digestive Fire and Ama Digestive Toxins

...continued from previous article... Healthy Agni Digestive Fire Agni Digestive Fire is one of the pillars of good health in Ayurveda. You cannot have overwhelmingly good health unless your Agni is strong. Strong physical Agni enables you to convert foods and liquids...

Ayurveda: Vegeterianism or Not

Does Ayurveda propose  vegetarianism and a vegeterian diet for all? Many modern Ayuvedic physicians, especially those teaching in Europe and the West, espouse lacto-vegeterianism as the ideal diet for everyone. But is this an accurate reflection of the Ayurvedic texts...

The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger

Liver Qi, Pitta Dosha, and The Effect of Hot Weather on Anger and Aggression Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda both describe how hot weather increases anger and aggression in humans. It describes in detail how and why hot weather increases levels of aggression by...

Vata Balancing Tea

A simple way to take the edge off of the cold, windy, dryness of the late Autumn early Winter Vata season is with a good Vata tea.. Why Vata Balancing Tea? To balance Vata is to reduces it. We reduce, or pacify our doshas, because their natural tendency is to...

Vata in Winter

Let's talk about what happens to Vata in Winter and how it relates to the qualities of the elements Air and Space, or Wind and Ether (as in etheric)  that the Vata dosha is a manifestion of.   Ayurveda describes the ways in which different kinds of foods,...

Benefits of Ayurvedic Oil Bath

Benefits of Ayurvedic Oil Bath:  Foundation of Healthy Living Ayurvedic Oil Bath (Abhyangha) is self massage with warm oil. In Ayurveda its traditionally done once a week by the whole family for wellness and prevention of disease. Regular oil massage, or Abhyanga,  is...

Anu Thailam Ayurvedic Nasal Oil

What Is Anu Thailam Anu Thailam is the name of a wonderful Ayurvedic Nasal Oil that is a very effective remedy for allergies, sinusitis, some headaches, and head colds.   Thailam is the word in the South Indian Dravidian languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and...

Autumn in Chinese Medicine

Autumn Fall utumn in Chinese Medicine is the time of falling, hence its secondary name. Spring up, Fall down.  In fact we even use the word autumn to describe a period in the human life span, the autumnal years, a period of beautiful maturity that...

Dosha in Ayurveda–Pitta, Vatta, and Kapha

Dosha in Ayurveda--Your Template for Individual Health Radiant health, according to Ayurveda, is simply a state  in which you experience a zest for life and feel integrated and whole. Your appetite, digestion, and elimination are good, you breathe deeply and easily,...

21 Tips for for Vata Dosha

21 Tips for Vata Dosha 70% of diseases begin with Vata elevation. In large strokes, Vata is elevated by frenetic, jam packed 24/7 lifestyles, by overstimulation, by cold dry weather and cold dry food, by too much bitter medicines, by raw food, lack of rest, and by the...

Vata Dosha

Here is a quick guide to Healthy Living for Vata Dosha in Autumn. The foundation of health in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine are Lifestyle and Diet.  To build a temple you have to make the foundation first. Here is a template for a lifestyle that will keep Vata dosha...

Vata Dosha, Fear, Anxiety, and ADDH

Vata Dosha, Fear,  Anxiety, and ADDH Vata dosha is the dosha whose nervous system responds to stressors with fear. Anxiety is the cascade of physical and mental responses, or symptoms, that occur when our sympathetic nervous system has been activated by the flight...

Summer Raw Beet, Sardine, and Pasta Salad

Summer is a time when even cold dry (Vata) types or cold damp (Kapha) types can have little more raw foods. One of the ways to make raw foods more compatible for cold types with weaker digestive energy (Agni/Spleen Qi) is to have it in small amounts with other foods...

Ayurveda Summer Tea–Ayush Brand ProPita Tea

Ayurvedic Summer Tea One of my favorite Ayurveda Summer Teas is Ayush Brand ProPita Tea. This is a naturally cooling tea that is mildly relaxing. Because it combines energetically cooling herbs and spices like Tulusi, Sandalwood, and Cardamon,  with sweet spices like...

Ayurveda Summer Tea Ayush ProPita Tea

My favorite herbal tea for hot weather is Ayurveda Summer Tea Ayush ProPita Tea. Ayush ProPita tea is a naturally cooling tea that is mildly relaxing. ProPita tea combines cooling herbs and spices like Tulsi,  Sandalwood, and Cardamon,  with sweet soothing spices like...

Safe Neti Pot Use

Below is an article from NPR about a recent death in Louisiana suspected to be from Neti Pot use with tap water. Before anyone gets too freaked out, let's look at the facts.1. There is no proof; it is a suspected case of one.2. The people live in Louisiana, a state...

Common Cold in Ayurveda

Common Cold in Ayurveda Common Cold in Ayurveda is called Pratishyaya and is usually an aggravation of  Kapha dosha. This is because its symptoms involves increased amounts of liquid discharge, build up of phlegm, and the sensation of feeling chilled. We are more...

Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup

Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup: The other day I found some very lovely Turkish Yellow lentils at the Middle Eastern food store. Here in San Diego, I get my Middle Eastern groceries at either North Park Produce, in City Heights, or out at Heritage International Market in El...

Lassi Summer Yogurt Drink

Lassi Summer Yogurt Drink is made from blending yogurt, or kefir, with water and spices, or fruit. While many Indians, especially vegetarians, eat yogurt with spiced foods at lunch time,  and drink yogurt mixed with water, during the day, year round,  it is especially...

Indian Lemonade 2

Years ago when I lived in the small village of Kanadukathan, http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=10.175599&lon=78.7842035&z=16&l=0&m=b in Tamil Nadu, India, I learned from my friend Lakkuman to put Cumin seed in the drinking water. Water is by nature cooling, and there we...

Winter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame

Winter Papaya Salad with Toasted Black Sesame Papaya is one of the few fruits (the other being banana) that are recommended with other foods. Papaya is especially good with proteins, due to its high levels of the digestive enzymes papain and chymopapain, which act...

Summer Raw Cabbage Salad a.k.a. Cole Slaw

I am a huge fan of cabbage. When I was a strict vegetarian it must have been its hearty quality and chewy texture that appealed. Now that I am an omnivore, I value cabbage both for its delicious, slightly sweet taste, and its high fiber low calorie ratio. In fact...

Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse

Cleansing in Ayurveda A great way to recover from the overeating of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, is with a Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse. Ten Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse versus Purgatives A Tend Day Ayurvedic Detox Cleanse is used routinely in Spring,...

Healing Eczema with Integrative Natural Medicine

Disease occurs in individual human beings. Your and my unique characteristics of body and mind are the particular terrain from whence our imbalances grow. Disease is always easier to treat if the terrain is healthy, and often impossible to treat successfully if it is...

Ayurveda in the Integrative Treatment of Cancer

Ayurveda, like traditional Chinese Medicine, is interested in addressing the root cause of diseases, and not just their symptoms. Relieving symptoms is very important, but medicine is much more profound when used to promote health and longevity, too.According to...

What Is a Healthy Digestive Tract

What Are the Signs of a Healthy Digestive Tract? A healthy digestive tract is marked by "good appetite, good digestion and good elimination." This will produce a clean tongue coating, a postive feeling after eating, and regular, easy, productive elimination. What is...

How to Harvest Fresh Stinging Nettles

Stinging Nettles: Soup and Medicine I first heard about Stinging Nettles when I was a teenager, and I read by the story of Milarepa, "Tibet's Greatest Yogi," who used Stinging Nettles as both food and medicine. At one point in his career as an ascetic, Milarepa was...

Healing Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine. It should not be confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Ulcerative colitis is characterized by the presence of inflammation and ulceration in the intestinal mucosa. The chief...

Cafe la Blanca Simple Vegan Vegetable Soup

On a recent trip to Mexico City I stayed in the historic district across the street from a sweet little restaurant that became my nightly haunt. A relic from the '50's, Cafe La Blanca served a lovely, mild, easy-to-digest vegetable soup that calmed my nerves and...

Recipes

Morroccan Beet Salad for Vata Dosha

Here's a Beet Salad for Vata Dosha I learned from my Morrocan friend Edith that I like to make in Autumn and Spring as a side dish with heavier food. Beet are an excellent Vata vegetable as they are easy-to-digest and, like turnip and radish, and excellent digestive...

Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu

When fighting a cold or the flu ramp up your Agni internal fire by drinking a quart a day of Dr. Wickermasinghe's Ayurvedic Detox Tea for Colds and Flu.  Yes, the flu and colds are caused by viruses. But nursing is a vital part of medicine. Staying warm, pushing hot...

Vegan Protein for Ulcerative Colitis

Vegan Protein for Ulcerative Colitis and other digestive issues has to be easy to digest and, according to Ayurveda, should not aggravate any of the three doshas. In Ayurveda we call light, easy to digest food that pacifies all three doshas, tridoshic, or Sattvic. A...

Ayurvedic Dandelion Greens for Spring

Ayurvedic Dandelion Greens for Spring are a great cleansing vegetable, excellent year round, but especially good in Spring. They are a wonderful Sattvic food that helps to cleanse the body of the ama dosha that accumulates naturally over the winter months. Green...

Ayurvedic Kitchari

What is Kitchari? Kitchari is a Sattvic, light, easy-to-digest, cleansing, detoxifying food that is excellent once a week, at the change of seasons, or any time you feel like giving your digestive system a break. It is also just a normal one-pot-dish you can have for...

Winter Bone Broth

Bone Marrow Soup, Part 2: Winter In cold weather its natural to crave warm food. And the alchemical transformation of solids into liquids, of vegetables and meats or bones into soup, is a way of liberating the essence of these foodstuff into a substance that is much...

Winter in Classical Chinese Medicine

The idea of winter in classical Chinese Medicine embodies the idea of slowing down. Slowing down is exactly what cold does to atoms in nature. To stop for a moment and meditate on the passage of time, to feel time moving inside you, is to practice the value of the...

Vegan Land and Sea Vegetable Soup for Spring

Vegan Land and Sea Vegetable Soup is a gentle way to cleanse and renew the body in Spring, or whenever you feel weak or are recovering from illness. It relies on the deep flavors of root vegetables, sea vegetables, and shitake mushroom. It is a simple soup with subtle...

Winter Cleanse Soup with Burdock, Dandelion, and Kombu

Winter Cleanse Soup with Burdock, Dandelion, and Kombu

  A Winter Cleanse Soup is a good remedy for the overeating of heavy rich foods that occurs around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. So, at the end of January, or in Early Spring, restor  your gut microbiome by making a Chinese Medicine Soup with...

Epazote Mexican Herb to Relieve Gas

Epazote Mexican Herb to Relieve Gas is popular as a fresh herb in southern Mexican cuisine. It is most famously used in black beans, and is said to have a "carminative" effect. Carminative herbs and spices are medicines that, in the terms of European herbology prevent...

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha

Smoothies for Pitta Dosha People who are Pitta dosha dominant can certainly have more cooling food, as well as raw food that is cooling such as cucumber lettuce and leafy cruciferous veggies sweet fruits coconut flesh, water, and milk milk, butter, ghee And Pitta...

Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer

Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer

Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer: Eating with the Seasons Smoothies for Vata Dosha in Summer is part two of   https://bodymindwellnesscenter.com/smoothies-for-vata-dosha/ . In Ayurveda we eat with the seasons, so  you can have more raw in Summer when Pitta is...

Vegan Gluten-Free Cookies with Jam

Vegan, Gluten-Free Thumbprint Cookies with Jam Low-Sugar, Vegan Thumbprint Cookies are fun to make! Kids love making them and eating them. A great way to get nutrient dense nuts, seeds, and legumes into the diet. I grind my pumpkin seeds and roasted chickpeas in my...

Roasted Garabanzo Cookies

Roasted Garabanzo Cookies are descended, in my brain, from the dry roasted split chickpea (pottu kadalai..பொட்டுக்கடலை)  I used to eat when I was a protein starved vegetarian monk in Tamil Nadu, South India, as a youth. Roasted Garabanzo are a favorite snack in South...

Ayurvedic Summer Cabbage Salad with Beet and Onion

Ayurvedic Summer Cabbage Salad with Beet and Onion I am a huge fan of cabbage salad. When I was a strict vegetarian it must have been its hearty quality and chewy texture that appealed. Now that I am an omnivore, I value cabbage both for its delicious, slightly sweet...

Pomegranate Coconut Water Pitta Pacifying Summer Drink

Pomegranate Coconut Water Pitta Pacifying Summer Drink is a low sugar herbal fruit beverage that is strongly Pitta pacifying and cooling to the body perfect for replacing electrolytes in Summer hot weather and hard exercise.  Coconut water is a very traditional hot...

Ayurvedic Hibiscus Summer Tea

Ayurvedic Hibiscus Summer Tea is naturally Pitta pacifying. This means its cooling and refreshing in the hot summer months, especially in the late summer Santa Ana conditions here in San Diego with the dry dusty weather. At the same time, because of its slight sour...

Jewish Style Sweet and Sour Vegan Cabbage

Jewish Style Sweet and Sour Vegan Cabbage Cabbage is one of nature’s miracle foods. You don’t have to buy exotic foods like Goji berry to have a healthy diet. Goji berries are great, and are used in Chinese medicine as food medicine and in medicinal formulas for...

Ayurvedic Okra Masala

Indian Style Tri-doshic Okra Masala Here is one of my favorite Okra recipes: Indian Style Tri-doshic Okra Masala. There are many ways to make Okra. Iraqi's cook it with onion and tomato. My friend Mrs. Mehdi with onion, cumin, and black pepper. My Persian friend adds...

Ayurvedic Winter Spice Churna

Ayurvedic Winter Spice Churna are "masalas" (spice mixtures) used to boost immunity by improving digestion and stimulating Agni digestive fire. They are used year round, but can be especially good in Winter and also for Ama/toxin accumulation. They can be tailored to...

Smoothies for Vata Dosha

Smoothies for Vata Dosha--Part One A reader had this comment recently about Smoothies for Vata Dosha, after reading this article about Raw Veggies or Salad for a Vatta Dominant Person. Are Smoothies Better than Juicing for Vata Dosha? "I see that the key here is to...

Ginger In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine

Ginger Root: Universal Medicine There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble Ginger root. Ginger is called "Vishabhesaj" in Ayurveda, Sanskrit for "universal medicine." That is both because of its wide...

Healthy Summer Fruit Tart

A Healthy Summer Fruit Tart is a nutrient dense food full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, flavanoids, antioxidants, and protein, with high amounts of life force from fresh ripe, organic ingredients, and without what's bad for you--white sugar, artificial stuff,...

Daikon Radish: Detoxify and Digest

Daikon Radish is naturally detoxifying. It is pungent, light, and warm, and is delicious in soups, salads, and as a pickled vegetable. Its detox effect is often increased by pairing it with fresh or pickled ginger. Daikon Radish in Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda The...

Come in from the Cold Ayurveda Winter Tea

Tonight it was quite cold for San Diego and I walked to my friend's house and then we went out again, so when we came back in I made an Ayurveda winter tea.  We put on a small kettle and I placed in the tea pot: Fresh Ginger Slices, 5 Cloves 4 Cassia Twig 1 inch,...

Summer Raw Beet, Sardine, and Pasta Salad

Summer is a time when even cold dry (Vata) types or cold damp (Kapha) types can have little more raw foods. One of the ways to make raw foods more compatible for cold types with weaker digestive energy (Agni/Spleen Qi) is to have it in small amounts with other foods...

Ayurveda Summer Tea Ayush ProPita Tea

My favorite herbal tea for hot weather is Ayurveda Summer Tea Ayush ProPita Tea. Ayush ProPita tea is a naturally cooling tea that is mildly relaxing. ProPita tea combines cooling herbs and spices like Tulsi,  Sandalwood, and Cardamon,  with sweet soothing spices like...

Ayurveda Summer Tea–Ayush Brand ProPita Tea

Ayurvedic Summer Tea One of my favorite Ayurveda Summer Teas is Ayush Brand ProPita Tea. This is a naturally cooling tea that is mildly relaxing. Because it combines energetically cooling herbs and spices like Tulusi, Sandalwood, and Cardamon,  with sweet spices like...

Late Winter Arugala for Kapha

Late Winter Arugala for Kapha

Arugula is one of those green leafy vegetable that is so delicious both raw and cooked. It lends a nutty and spicy taste to other milder greens, and serves as a fine foil for feta cheese, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried Turkish apricots (those plump dark...

Baked Butternut Squash and Black Bean Stew

Cooking Methods in Chinese Food Medicine: From Warm to Hot to Very Hot One of the aspects of Food Medicine we pay attention to in Chinese Medicine is the cooking method itself. Each method of cooking adds relative values of heat to the dish being prepared. Steaming...

Kale with Pomegranate Molasses and Cumin

Kale with Pomegranate Molasses and Cumin

Kale with Pomegranate Molasses and Cumin One of my favorite ways to cook Kale is inspired by the classic Linguine with Broccoli that you find at Southern Italian restaurants. Their method is really simple--olive oil, garlic, lemon, parmesan. I take the olive oil and...

Common Cold in Ayurveda

Common Cold in Ayurveda Common Cold in Ayurveda is called Pratishyaya and is usually an aggravation of  Kapha dosha. This is because its symptoms involves increased amounts of liquid discharge, build up of phlegm, and the sensation of feeling chilled. We are more...

Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup

Vegan Turkish Lentil Soup: The other day I found some very lovely Turkish Yellow lentils at the Middle Eastern food store. Here in San Diego, I get my Middle Eastern groceries at either North Park Produce, in City Heights, or out at Heritage International Market in El...

Vegan Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn

Vegan Afro-Indian Kabocha Squash Soup for AutumnThis is a wonderful pureed vegetable or pureed veggie soup, depending on how you serve it, that is based on an African ground nut (pea nut) and squash soup I tasted way back in 1984 at The Prophet restaurant in...

Lassi Summer Yogurt Drink

Lassi Summer Yogurt Drink is made from blending yogurt, or kefir, with water and spices, or fruit. While many Indians, especially vegetarians, eat yogurt with spiced foods at lunch time,  and drink yogurt mixed with water, during the day, year round,  it is especially...

Indian Lemonade 2

Years ago when I lived in the small village of Kanadukathan, http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=10.175599&lon=78.7842035&z=16&l=0&m=b in Tamil Nadu, India, I learned from my friend Lakkuman to put Cumin seed in the drinking water. Water is by nature cooling, and there we...

Rose Scented Limeade for Summer

There are so many lovely beverages to enjoy rather than drinking sodas full of phosphoric acid and high fructose corn syrup, linked in studies to lower bone density and diabetes, respecitively. Here is a very refreshing drink you can enjoy in summer that will cool you...

Lime Rose Lemonade for Summer

Lime Rose Lemonade for Summer, made from Lime juice and scented with Rose Water  is a very refreshing Ayurvedic drink that's quick and easy. You can enjoy it during any hot weather, in summer or late summer, and anytime your Pitta dosha feels elevated. Lime Rose...

Provencal Style Lima Bean Summer Soup

Lima Bean Summer Soup Live with the Seasons. Summer is a time to replenish fluids and eat more cool foods. On really hot days we may not feel like hot food. Pureed vegetable or bean soup nourishes the Agni or "Spleen Qi" with healthy herbs and spices, yet is great at...

Nearly Tridoshic Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup

Cucumber Avocado Summer Soup2 cups chopped cucumber, peeled if non-organic1 cup avocado1.5 cups plain yogurt or kefir1-2 tbsp fresh bell pepper 3-4 tbs fresh cilantroSalt and Pepper to tasteAyurveda This is a lovely creamy cooling summer soup that in Ayurvedic terms...

Azuki Beans in your Oatmeal!

Oatmeal with Azuki Bean (Oat and Bean Congee)Beans in Oatmeal? How is it possible?Soft, mild tasting Azuki beans have a long history of use in Japan and South Asia in sweet foods and deserts. In Chinese medicine they are considered grounding and balancing, and...

Winter Seasonal Eating

Winter Seasonal Eating In Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda winter seasonal eating is common sensical. Just as its natural to eat and drink cooling things in summer, winter is the time we maintain body heat with warming foods and herbs....

Staying Health with the Seasons: Winter

Staying Healthy with the Seasons: WinterHototogisu kata Did a cuckoo cry?Niwa no to akerya I open the doorKoyoi no sora nya And look out in the garden-- Tsuki bakai There is only the moon Translation by Kenneth Rexroth, 1958, from 100 Poems from the Japanese.In the...

Afghani Winter Turnips

Mr. Zia's Afghani Winter Turnips One of my favorite  places for home cooking in San Diego years past was Mr. Zia's Afghan restaurant, on 30th St. in North Park. Mr. Zia became a friend, and even took me to the Afghani mosque during Ramadan. He served an array of...

Arame Salad for Autumn

One of my favorite sea vegetables is Arame (Eisenia bicyclis), which grows wild, in the unpolluted waters off the coast of Ise, in Japan. Arame (pronouced Ara-may), besides having a sweet name, has a mild flavor and lovely texture. It can be added to soups and...

Vegan Afro-Indian Kabocha Squash Soup for Autumn

Vegan Afro-Indian Kabocha Squash Soup for AutumnThis is a wonderful pureed vegetable or pureed veggie soup, depending on how you serve it, that is based on an African ground nut (pea nut) and squash soup I tasted way back in 1984 at The Prophet restaurant in...

Autumn Baked Root Squash Stew

Ingredients:* Butternut Squash, 1 small* Parsnip, 1* Sweet Potato, 1* Kidney beans, cooked, 4 ounces* Ground beef or Lamb or cubed Tofu or Tempeh, 8 ounces* Yellow raisins, 2 tablespoons* Turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon* Allspice, 2 tablespoons* Bay leaves, 5* White pepper,...

Rose Water in Summer

Chill Your Mood: Rose Water in Summer.   The Reason for Rose: Pitta Fire in Ayurveda and Liver and Heart Fire in Chinese Medicine Rose water and rose essence has been used for millennia to take the edge off of heat in Summer. Heat in both Ayurveda and Chinese...

Rose Water for Elevated Pitta

An elegantly simple herbal remedy for Pitta excess is Rose. Rose is cooling and relaxing; just think of your feelings when smelling a deep red rose on a late June night under the moon. If you have never had that experience, its not too late to start.Walk into any...

Burdock Root Detox Drink

Burdock Root for Detoxification in Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda Burdock Root Detox Drink is a decongesting, heat clearing, detoxifying beverage that clears toxic heat and dampness, called Pitta and Ama in Ayurveda. While cleansing toxins from the body, it also...

More on Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery on Housten St. in NYC

Best 100-Year-Old Microorganism Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus Yonah Schimmel Knishes Bakery, 137 E. Houston St. (betw. Forsyth & Eldridge Sts.), 212-477-2858 From the Blog Jewniverse "Several years ago, we were privileged to overhear a conversation...

Cold Beet Borscht Soup for Summer

Cold Beet Borscht Soup for SummerLet's call this a soup, even though I grew up drinking it out of a glass, and at Yonah Shimmel's Knishery in New York (est.1910) they were still serving it on tap, for $1.25, along with home made Kefir, in little plastic institutional...

Arugala, Purslane, Mizuna Green Salad with Feta and Fava

Boy the Hillcrest, San Diego Farmer's Market has gotten better and better as more and more people are understanding the value of Organic, Locally Grown Produce. In fact, anyone with four square feet of land, or even one or two wine barrels* and some decent sun can...

Summer Raw Cabbage Salad a.k.a. Cole Slaw

I am a huge fan of cabbage. When I was a strict vegetarian it must have been its hearty quality and chewy texture that appealed. Now that I am an omnivore, I value cabbage both for its delicious, slightly sweet taste, and its high fiber low calorie ratio. In fact...

Raw Beet Salad Morrocan and Provencal Styles

Raw Beet Salad is super high in betacyanin, a phyto-nutrient associated with their deep red color. Unfortunately, according to what I have read, this anti-cancer chemical is destroyed by cooking. How To Include Raw Beets Into Salads Though Ayurveda and Chinese...

Pu-erh Tea: One of Nature’s Super Foods

I think the term "super food" can be really misleading, as if something as complex as health could just come out of a bottle. In reality, "super food" is a marketing term invented to increase sales. The fact is, promoting health and wellness is a function of an...

Warming Baked Root and Squash Stew: Vegan or Not

One of the things we look at in Chinese Dietary Therapy is, what are the effects of particular cooking styles on the "energetic" quality of the food; here energy refers to the warming characteristics of the dish. Whereas steaming and quick boiling are mild, and...

Beet Root and Daikon Winter Rice Pullao

Winter makes me want to cook, and brings out my love of warming spices. Today I wanted rice and vegetables, and all I had in the house was a large red beet-root, and a daikon radish. So I made Beetroot and Radish Pulao, a really simple and delicious dish. Vegetables...

Keeping Naturally Cool in Summer

Are you keeping naturally cool in summer? In Classical Chinese Medicine summer is the season of maximum "yang," a time of extreme heat, light, and activity; in summer our energy circulates centrifugally; it is closer to the surface and our radial pulse wave rises to...

May and June Gloom Vegan Odessa Borscht

Samuel Clemens' remark that the coldest winter he ever spent was summer in San Francisco, could be modified to include May and June in San Diego, when morning and afternoon cloud cover keeps the air cool and moist. The clouds typically burn off by afternoon, but...

Boosting The Immune System: Lung Qi and Yin

The Chinese Medicine view of the immune system combines notions of both nature and nurture. Jing, translated as Essence, is inherited from our parents, depleted by the very fact of living, depleted badly by bad living, added to by meditation, foodstuffs, and herbs....

How to Harvest Fresh Stinging Nettles

Stinging Nettles: Soup and Medicine I first heard about Stinging Nettles when I was a teenager, and I read by the story of Milarepa, "Tibet's Greatest Yogi," who used Stinging Nettles as both food and medicine. At one point in his career as an ascetic, Milarepa was...

Raw Flaxseed Sprinkle

Make your own Raw Flaxseed sprinkle Raw Flaxseed is one of nature's super foods. And it has been a part of human and animal diets for thousands of years in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Why is Flaxseed so good for you? What's In Flax Omega 3 Fatty Acids Flaxseed is very...

Baked Roots and Squash Stew: Vegan or Non-Vegan

This is an excellent warming slightly sweet slightly spicy stew that can be made purely vegan, or in a traditional mid-eastern style with ground beef or lamb. Making it with meat is more warming and tonifying, suitable for Vata, but unnecesary for Kapha, or Pitta...

Teff n’ Quinoa Gluten Free Pancakes Recipe

  Teff n' Quinoa Gluten Free Vegan Pancakes Recipe Autumn and Winter are ideal times for the warming, grounding quality of of pancakes. But why use pre-packaged, over-salted, sugary, low-fiber pancake mixes whose pre-ground grains may or may not be fresh, when...

Winter Barley & Bean Tridoshic Vegan Stew

Barley and Bean Stew is a great addition to your vegan diet in Winter. In Ayurveda, this is an example of how to make a dish more Tridoshic, by including all the 6 tastes.   Ingredients Barley, 3/4 Cup, Cooked till Soft Pinto Beans, 1 Cup, Cooked One Head Beet...

Vegan Chick Pea Miso Soup or Its Seafoody Cousin

Of the general food remedies for winter, nothing approaches soup. Soup is warming and makes vegetables and protiens delicious and digestible. At the same time pushing hot fluids in winter keeps mucus membranes and bronchial passages hydrated, while loosening phlegm .A...

Immunity Boosting Foods in Ayurveda

  Immunity Boosting Foods Immunity boosting foods are those that are full of Prana-- freshly made and well prepared, organic, easy to digest, and pure. Tailored to our individual body-mind type (prakruti), age, and the season, they fill the body with Prana...

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