Diet
What Should We Be Drinking?
How much water should we be drinking? Is cold water okay? Is coffee healthy or not, already? What about decaf? What about green tea? Green juices? Prune juices? Sparkling water??? Please tell me sparkling water is OK! It’s all I’ve got…
Across the generations (and mediums) there have been many hydration gurus, and I suppose in this blog I’m throwing my hat into the ring, albeit really as just a hopefully qualified echo of Chinese medicine’s biological perspective.
Sparkling water is OK, but can irritate the bladder—should be kept to 1/day.
Room temp water is best, ideally half of our weight in ounces each day. Cold drinks can impair digestion, but again, once a day outside the context of a meal is no big deal, imo.
Juice is worse than people think—green juice not quite as good as people think. Green juices, without the sugars of fruit inside them, are fine, but should not replace real meals where salivary amylase is generated, we actually eat, and chew whole (green) vegetables.
One coffee/day should be fine for most people, but obviously has an excitatory and diuretic effect, so if one suffers with a lot of heat or dryness symptoms, should be minimized. These can include everything from insomnia and irritability to bloating or lack of appetite (dryness of digestive enzymes).
Green tea is preferable in people with “heat patterns,” and/or after a night of eating red meat, which can generate heat in the intestines. Again, because of its bitterness, people who tend to nausea, diarrhea, or lack of appetite should steer clear of green tea, and reach instead for…
PU-ERH TEA! Probably the healthiest thing one can drink besides clean, room temperature water, pu-erh is a black tea known for its naturally occurring pre and probiotics that enhance digestive and gut barrier function, the latter of which gets compromised by stress, medications, or alcohol. And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t check off at least one of these. Best taken hot.
I try to limit myself to 2 caffeinated beverages/day (I think no one should have more than 3), which are routinely a cup of Purity black coffee, followed by a cup of pu-erh, from either ARBOR or YUNNAN SOURCING, both of which offer organic and fair trade, high quality products. Highly recommend!
Tryptophan Foods & its Benefits
The ancient Chinese stressed the importance of eating foods that are “rich in qi and blood,” which upon scientific reflection, was in many cases referring to foods that are dense in the amino acid, tryptophan. Why?
The amino acid, tryptophan, is the precursor to the neurotransmitter, serotonin, which in turn regulates sleep and emotions, also digestive function, blood clotting, bone, and cardiovascular health. Circling back to Chinese medical terms, when your acupuncturist says that your gut is reliant upon strong and healthy “qi” to produce strong and healthy blood, this is what they mean. We need amino acids to produce not only literal blood, but also the neurotransmitters whose functions are synonymous with that of “the blood,” from a Chinese medical perspective.
Most people think of tryptophan around Thanksgiving and its effects of making us tired after the enormous holiday meal, but that fatigue is actually more likely due to the profound overconsumption of carbs and calories.
Other sources of tryptophan besides turkey are as follows, complete with warnings of their potential side effects and how to mitigate them:
- Chicken
- Is mass produced, so be sure to always consume in good, organic quality. Also can overstimulate the liver vessel, so ideal to consume with sour foods, such as lemon or sauerkraut to offset this effect. Unfortunately, the worst way to consume chicken is with hot sauce or spicy foods, which potentiates this effect.
- Beef
- Can generate excessive heat in the intestines, so should be consumed alongside bitter greens. Again, sad news: the worst way to consume is alongside alcohol, which can potentiate the heat effect. Eat plenty of bitters to counteract!
- Fish
- Beware of high mercury fish, as my wife always reminds me! Other than that, as the many centenarians of Okinawa and the Mediterranean know, there are little side effects to wild fish
- Eggs
- They’re just too expensive these days, and the inorganic variety are a problem. Other than that, eggs are nearly as perfect as fish 🙂
- Dairy
- Dairy has health benefits, but it is very cold and damp in its physiological behavior in the body. If you tend to low appetite, brain fog, diarrhea, bloating, or skin conditions you should avoid as much as possible.
- Soy
- Soy is also cold and damp and should be cooked alongside plenty of spices, onions, garlic, ginger, and even hot peppers, to offset its effect.
Besides tryptophan, another Thanksgiving cliche that benefits qi and blood is gratitude 🙂
The Benefits of Eating for the Seasons
Restaurants that have revolving seasonal menus have gained in popularity in recent years. The concept of seasonal eating has deep roots. Before the advent of modern agriculture and global trade, people naturally consumed foods that were locally available during specific times of the year. But today, the convenience of supermarkets allows us to eat almost any fruit or vegetable year-round. While this accessibility is convenient, it disconnects us from the natural cycles of food and may not always be the healthiest or most sustainable choice. Let’s delve into the benefits of eating for the seasons and how it can transform your health, environment, and culinary experience. continue reading
Transitioning from Summer to Fall
Although it remains deftly hot and humid, according to the traditional calendar and evidenced in the shorter days and longer nights, we now find ourselves in the transition between summer to autumn.
Summer corresponds with the heart and central nervous system, autumn with the lungs and immunity, but each quarterly transition of the seasons corresponds with the gut and microbiome, thereby further underscoring the importance of digestion in engendering all other organ systems. This one might be most directly significant, as in Chinese medicine’s cycle of the five elements earth is “mother to” metal, which is to say the stomach is primarily connected to pulmonary health. Anyone who’s ever suffered with an asthma attack due to dairy consumption or sleep apnea due to a weight problem can attest.
To compile the challenges posed by American diets and grocery options, we are simultaneously confronted with the humidity, which might further aggravate pre-existing dampness in one’s gut, depending on their constitution, diet, and body type. As always, I recommend going gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol free as much as possible.
To avoid gluten, there is always rice or great gluten free pasta brands now, such as Glutiniete. To avoid dairy, you can occasionally sprinkle nutritional yeast on foods and/or make vegan parmesan cheese with this simple recipe:
To avoid sugar I recommend increasing your tolerance for dark chocolates, and/or eating spoonfuls of nut butters with a touch of maple syrup or honey. If you must have alcohol, then vodka, tequila, mezcal, and organic wines are preferable. People often forget (especially when seeking a buzz) that grapes are always on the dirty dozen list, which means their inorganic versions are ridden with pesticides.
Those are a lot of DONT’s, I realize. As for DO’s:
- Eat a warm breakfast with protein: Eggs, oatmeals, congees, etc.
- Sweet potato, sweet potato, sweet potato! An excellent digestive aid and coming into season in fall. I like to roast them either with salt, pepper, and garlic, or cinnamon and maple syrup. For the latter I add sliced apples for my toddler in the last 15 minutes.
- Small amounts of fermented pickled foods, such as kimchi, sauerkraut, or pickles for their naturally occurring probiotics.
- Pu-Erh tea instead of green in the morning, also for its naturally occurring fermentation. Green tea, even when consumed hot, has a cold quality that can harm weak stomachs.
- Hot ginger, licorice, and/or barley tea in the evenings.
Finally, in our classical texts it is said that excessive standing harms the kidneys, excessive celebration harms the heart, and excessive sitting harms the stomach. What is meant by the latter is something the ancient Chinese understood and has only in recent generations become common knowledge in the west: sedentary lifestyles compromise metabolism. No matter how well we eat, it won’t much matter if we never get up and move.
Which Sparkling Waters are Safe?
I don’t know many adults who don’t love sparkling water. I don’t know whether bubbles are having a generational popularity surge, or I’ve just reached that age where friends are enjoying it as a preferable vice in lieu of soda, beer, or other intoxicants we’ve all but ditched for better health. I’m pretty sure it’s both factors, and especially ever since the quieter life of parenthood and middle age, my wife and I both anticipate with great pleasure, our respective “sparklings” once our toddler is finally asleep for the night.
First, the obvious: Is sparkling water healthy?
Yes and no. My teacher, Dr. Suzanne Robidoux, suggests that people who gravitate incessantly to sparkling water probably suffer with a great deal of dampness in their stomachs. The carbonation causes gases to move, which helps to temporarily dissolve the dampness, and beyond being delicious, they feel better. Take note of what you’re eating when you have a strong craving for these gases—it is probably a damp-causing food. Conversely, people who feel bloated or uncomfortable in drinking the bubbles probably suffer with a “dry stomach,” one that is lacking in healthy fluids and/or digestive acids, and can’t handle the gases as well.
This informs us that (the gases in) sparkling water has a drying effect, which is not the worst thing if taken in moderation, but if over-indulged in over time, can have deleterious effects. Let’s be honest: Nobody actually believes these often flavored, commercial sparkling waters could possibly be as clean and neutral for our organs as plain, room temperature water, right? My opinion is as long as we limit ourselves to 1-2/day and are additionally giving to our bodies plenty of plain, clear water, we should be fine.
With that said, there are recent reports that many sparkling waters are laden with PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are manmade chemicals that have been around only since the 1940’s. Nicknamed, “forever chemicals,” they are thought to not break down in the human body and accumulate over time, potentially causing a wide array of serious diseases. These chemicals are found on non-stick pans as well as pizza boxes, as if the white bread, mozzarella, and inorganic (nightshade) tomato sauce wasn’t inflammatory enough.
Knowledge is power, and fortunately these same recent reports have informed us of which major companies’ waters tested positive for such chemicals, and which tested negative. Apparently, brands to avoid include Perrier, La Croix, Poland Spring, Bubly, Polar, and Topo Chico, once topping the charts with levels of 9.76! So, if you go to a Mexican restaurant, you’re probably better off with tequila than a fresh bottle of Topo Chico water.
Safe brands include Spindrift (which uses real fruit to flavor!), Mountain Valley (which has previously been ranked the cleanest water in the country, bubbles or not), Pellegrino (the classic!), Waterloo, and Sound.
I would post a link to some of the articles I referenced to get this information, but there are so many that are so easy to search online. I recommend doing so if you love your daily bubbles and wish to read more. Hope all are enjoying the summer!
