Michael and Lesley Tierra's Blogs

Summer kicharee is not only great for detoxification, but it is also a light summer soup perfect for the hot months of year. It is balanced in protein and can include as many local vegetables as you wish. As well, you can easily cook up a big batch to eat over three days, or freeze for longer, so your time is spent in the garden or hiking, swimming and so on – you get the idea!

Some are surprised with the lightness of summer kicahree and yet how it fills and satisfies them. Many eat it just for breakfast, or for one other meal, while others eat it exclusively for several days or weeks to cool and clean toxins from their bodies. Have fun with it and explore! Your imagination is the limit here.

Here is a sample recipe to follow. You can make it as is, substitute what you have on hand, or change it to satisfy your tastebud desires. To keep it a summer kicharee suitable for this time of year, use only seasonal local vegetables and add light protein (if desired). I give several possibilities here.

Basic Summer Kicharee Recipe

Makes approximately 6 to 8 two-cup servings.

½ cup barley (rice or quinoa)

½ cup green split peas (aduki beans)

½ cup yellow split peas (mung dahl)

½ cup lentils (other dahls)

2 quarts chicken stock

2 tblsp ghee

1 tblsp cumin powder

1 large onion

4 stalks celery

2 big carrots

garnish with ½ lemon per serving of soup and season to taste

Directions:

(Optional but wise first step: Soak grain and beans in water for 12 hours. Strain.)

Place grain and beans in stock and simmer for 30 minutes. In meantime, brown cumin in ghee, then add vegetables one at a time and sauté. Add this mix to grain and beans after the first 30 minutes and simmer all together for another half hour. Eat as is, or add various garnishes, additional protein and so on. Ideas are given below.

Ingredient Descriptions:

Barley is used because it is cool and eliminates dampness, both perfect for the summer heat and balancing the Spleen and Stomach organs, which flourish and rule this season (July to mid-September).

Split peas and lentils are lighter to digest than heavier beans and actually need less soaking time. All are alkalinizing.

Ghee, or clarified butter, is a pure oil that sparks digestion without being too heating. It also doesn’t go rancid without refrigeration.

Cumin is neutral in energy and helps digestion.

Lemon is alkalinizing, cooling and helps digestion.

Substitution Possibilities:

GRAIN: Use brown rice or quinoa instead of barley. (Be sure to soak the brown rice for 12 – 24 hours first to eliminate its outer kernel and make it far more digestible.) Both are cooling and alkalinizing.

BEANS: Use aduki beans (adzuki beans), mung dahl or mung beans. Aduki beans assist kidney function; June through July is when Kidney energy is lowest (this is the opposite time of year from the Kidney/Urinary Bladder time of year, in winter). Mung dahl and mung beans are cooling and detoxifying.

STOCK: You may use a different stock or water instead of chicken stock. Chicken stock is lighter than other stocks and provides additional protein that is easily digestible.

OIL: Try coconut oil instead of ghee. It is light, reduces fat accumulation, is more water soluble and so breaks down more quickly and is immediately used by the liver for energy (see upcoming blog on this!).

SPICES: Try cumin seeds instead of the powder, or also add coriander seeds or power and turmeric. Try other spices according to your individual health needs such as the following (all of which promote good digestion): basil (cooling), fennel (warming, moves Qi), ginger (warming), garlic (warming, anti-parasitical), onions (warming), mustard seeds (warming).

VEGETABLES: Onions, celery and carrots are always a good way to add flavor to a soup pot, but feel free to substitute or add other vegetables as desired. Ideas include: summer squashes, red bell peppers, eggplant, string beans, artichoke hearts, potatoes and tomatoes.

GARNISHES: Try adding yogurt, cilantro, parsley and/or gomasio (sesame salt).

PROTEINS: If you need or desire to increase the protein of this soup and provide more warming energy to your body, add any of the following (all are lighter proteins and easier to digest for the summer months): hard-boiled eggs, sardines or other fish, chicken or pork pieces, chicken sausage, or buffalo (very low fat for a red meat).

We have just moved into time of year that corresponds to the Spleen and Stomach according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. This means that the energy of those organs flourishes now and is at its strongest – or should be. This time lasts from approximately July through mid-September, and while these organs' effects are most strongly felt at the end of the season, now is the time to protect these organs and keep them strong.

The Spleen and Stomach are partners in the Earth Element. This is the most
prevalent and influential element of all five (the others being Metal, Water, Wood and Fire). First of all, it encompasses the organs of digestion and good digestion is a major key to health. But secondly, the energy of the Spleen and Stomach surfaces at the end of all the other element seasons, so that the last two weeks of every season is a mixture of its native element's energy plus the Earth Element energies.

For example, we just finished the Heart and Small Intestine season that ran
from mid-April to near the end of June. For the last two weeks of this time, these Fire Element energies were influenced by the Earth Element energies as they surfaced at that time. This means that along with Fire signs of palpitations, for instance, indigestion signs may have been present as well.

The Earth Element influence and its organs are influential in many ways. The Spleen is responsible for the assimilation and transportation of nutrients
throughout the body (metabolism). As this occurs on all levels, Spleen Qi not
only controls food and fluid metabolism, but also cell respiration and other
similar metabolic functions.

The Spleen opens to the mouth and manifests on the lips. It rules the sense of taste, lymph and saliva along with muscle tone and development, the flesh and limbs. Spleen Qi is in charge of keeping the organs in place and the Blood in vessels. The flavor associated with the Spleen is sweet, meaning that a little sweet strengthens the Spleen while too much weakens it.

The Spleen hates to be damp (externally in the environment or internally in the
body), as this interferes with its ability to transform and transport food and fluids. As well, excessive sitting and the emotions of worry, melancholia, nostalgia and obsession target the Spleen. Conditions involving any of the above factors both indicate a Spleen/Stomach imbalance and can likewise cause one.

A weak Spleen causes poor digestion, low appetite, gas, bloatedness, acid
regurgitation, loose stools, undigested food in the stools, malnutrition, weakness
in arms and legs, fatigue, poor muscle development, edema of abdomen, hips
and thighs, blood spots under the skin, easy bruising, lack of sensation of taste,
prolapsed organs, frequent bleeding, abdominal distension, obsession, worry,
and anemia.

To tonify Spleen Qi, use herbs such as ginseng, astragalus and dioscorea
(Chinese wild yam). To tonify Spleen Yang, warm it with a heating herb such as dried or fresh ginger, give a yang tonic such as psoralea. To transform Spleen dampness, give herbs like agastache or cardamom.

The best way to treat and protect the Spleen and Stomach (digestion and
metabolism) is through diet. Foods that are cooked and warm in temperature
most closely match our own digestive fires and so metabolize and assimilate
easiest. This means that although it is hot outdoors, the intake of raw foods,
salads, juices and fruits should be limited and balanced with cardamom or fresh
ginger. Likewise, iced drinks and foods (ice cream, etc.) also need to be limited
and balanced with warming spices to protect the digestion. Doing so will promote
good digestion throughout the year and prevent those late season Earth Element
experiences of gaining weight without being able to lose it (one of the “delights”
of late summer for most!).

Above: Richo Cech in Zanzibar

Just as a horse whisperer understands the particular needs and psychology of horses, a plant whisperer is one who can receive the subtle communications from plants revealing their special needs for successful cultivation.

In both instances, only someone with a unique aptitude who is willing to invest years of patient observation and trial and error may attain such a gift. I would certainly designate Richo Cech, herbalist, horticulturist, world traveler, archaeologist, linguist, author, founder and owner of Horizon Herbs, as just such a 'plant whisperer.' He has patiently mastered the secrets of cultivating wild medicinal herbs, some of which have never been successfully cultivated before, such as Osha (Ligusticum porteri) and Mandrake (Mandragora species) to name only two.

Simply put, Richo is an herbalist who knows plants from the ground up – and that is very rare.

Richo recently spoke at our annual East West Herb School Spring seminar. Students had an opportunity on two occasions to appreciate Richo's profound wisdom and understanding regarding the cultivation of wild medicinal herbs. His second presentation focused on his recent trip to Zanzibar where his ability to speak Swahili allowed him to converse with natives of the region.

Richo works with an incredibly diverse range of medicinal, edible, rare, and all organic plants at his farm located in a small temperate region of Southern Oregon where he lives with his family and associates. Horizon Herb Farm has grown to become the country's leading source for hard-to-find medicinal herbs. He is occasionally smitten with the passion of wanderlust that, besides seasonal appearances at various herb conferences around the country, includes forays into exotic distant lands in search of medicinal plants and the people of those regions who know how to use them.

As a master herb gardener, Richo knows the optimal placing, sun exposure, watering, soil conditions and other requirements that go into successfully cultivating plants, especially non-cultivar species of wild medicinal herbs. Many of us whose focus has been in other areas of involvement with herbs such as education, clinical practice, research and product development, have only limited time for such gardening ventures. The result is that each year we expend considerable time and money to purchase and attempt to grow the same plants or seeds that we were unsuccessful cultivating in previous years. Fortunately, Richo's new book, The Medicinal Herb Grower: A Guide for Cultivating Plants that Heal (Volume 1), is the next best thing to having a master gardener like Richo by your side.

What sets medicinal plants apart from the rest

In The Medicinal Herb Grower, Richo describes how food crops called cultivars are loaded with nutritious and tasty primary compounds, such as starch, sugar and proteins. But in the case of medicinal herbs, their desired properties mostly come from secondary compounds consisting of aromatic, acrid, bitter or even toxic compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins and glycosides in relatively low concentration. These secondary compounds arise as part of the process of "attracting pollinators, repelling browsers, defending themselves, or communicating with other plants, insects, and vertebrates - including humans."

What distinguishes plants used for food from those used for medicine is food plants’ comparative lack of secondary compounds as compared to medicinal herbs. It is these secondary compounds evolving out of the stress and struggle for a plant's existence that make them useful for treating imbalances and diseases within our own psycho-physiological systems.

Richo declares himself "leery of hybridization, tissue culture, and genetic modification of medicinal plants" because they alter the concentration of naturally evolved secondary plant compounds. He asserts that these practices render an herb "less predictable and less dependable for medicinal use" and consequently diminish our ability to rely on traditional wisdom to inform us of its use.

Personally, I don't think this is a sufficient reason to not avail ourselves of the ability to alter plants to suit our perceived needs. In fact, through selective cultivation, hybridization and other methods, people have always altered plants to suit their needs. Even Richo points out how certain strains of medicinal plants such as German chamomile, garden sage and valerian have been selected for higher levels of those secondary compounds associated with medicinal properties. Just as the greatest horticultural advance in history has been the cultivation of cannabis over the last 40 years, from a weed during the late 1960s to a plant today that literally reeks of mind-altering tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), similarly there is a long history of intentional cultivation to produce the most effective medicinal plants.

Working with nature

Richo's book reminds us of how to work with, rather than against, nature; and it reminds us that this practice is best both for medicinal plant cultivation as well as a strategy for healing. Both healer and plant whisperer must first acknowledge the need inherent in any cultivation or healing problem. It is out of that need, based on passive observation, that one can plot a strategy to work with the life force. It is always a task best done with humility and respect, and as such may require a considerable amount of patience.

Two stories from The Medicinal Herb Grower illustrate the patience it takes to make a plant thrive. One is the author's attempt to cultivate eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), considered an adaptogen tonic in the ginseng family. Richo describes how, after getting off to a good start in his open garden area, by midsummer in hot and dry southern Oregon "the leaves crisped on the plant like bread left too long in the toaster."  He considered how the plant grows in Siberia, "flourishing in thick stands around the margins of cold lakes."  So in the Fall he decided to transplant the suffering plants into a tree-shaded area near the creek. In subsequent years "the ants danced on the eleuthero flowers, and the branches grew heavy with fruit." From this he learned how the placement of plants can be critical to successfully growing them.

Another story relates how he was able to fulfill a perhaps ancestral yearning to grow mandrake. This rare plant of European origin has a long history dating back to biblical times for use in magic and medicine. It is considered rare and difficult to grow. At first, Richo planted the seeds in gallon containers and set them in the best spot in his shadehouse. Each year the sprouts would appear in the early spring and mysteriously die back in a couple of months. By the third year this was still happening! He asked a friend who had lived in the Middle East about their native habitat, who said they grew "out in the open, among the rocks, in alkaline soil," without much rain. Richo placed his seeds accordingly, and now is the proud steward of thriving five year-old mandrakes.

The Medicinal Herb Grower: Practical and a pleasure to read

The Medicinal Herb Grower is no dry manual; Richo’s prosaic flair makes reading the book a delight. In a section entitled “A Tour of the Horizon Herbs Seed Farm,” he writes, "The creek flows through the year, in the summer slurring over slimy boulders, in the winter chattering whitewater, boulders scrubbed clean, periwinkles holding on beneath for dear life. There’s a secret western garden under the shade of a maple that reaches her arms up from the yin-soaked streamside to clasp to her breast, like a yearning mother, a shade garden of her own making."

From a practical standpoint, I particularly loved Chapter 5 – “Rules of Green Thumb.” I think if someone who sincerely believes that they don't have the ability to grow things reads and follows all or some of the 17 suggestions (by my count) of this chapter they can't fail.

There is something so universal about this book that it is destined to become a real classic for anyone interested in cultivating medicinal herbs. It offers everything one needs to grow a successful garden, whether it be of flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, medicinal herbs, or a mixture of all of the above. Richo flat out states that the best protection against pests is diversity.

The Medicinal Herb Grower is chock full of practical information about every aspect of gardening, from seed preparation, to building a green house or a shade house, to various methods for making compost, to proper plant positioning, watering and drainage, along with more advanced methods for growing. All of it is drawn from the author's personal experience which, in my opinion, is the secret of a good book. It's hard to believe that so much practical information can be presented in such a short space and still have room for the author to express his poetic and philosophical life views and even tell stories of his working as an archaeologist where he explored the early roots of gardening at the Koster site in southern Illinois which dates back to 7500 B.C.E.

Richo’s book has been celebrated and recognized by other prominent herbalists and horticulturists. Jim Duke, PhD, herbalist, botanist, formerly with the Department of Agriculture, and author of 20 books on herbal medicine, says The Medicinal Herb Grower is "a very different book – no bibliographic echoes, all good gardening and nature first hand. This book is a pleasure to read, and a treasure of valuable cultural information."

Christopher Hobbs, renowned herbalist and botanist, himself an author of dozens of books and articles on herbs, describes Richo's book as "the most definitive herb grower's guide on the planet, a book that breathes with aliveness, humor, and how to really do it!"

I recall my first childhood attempts at gardening on small a plot my mother gave me to “grow things.” Each day I would lovingly return to my small plot and fuss with the plants, instinctively digging and loosening the soil around their bases (a technique called “Rubber Fingers” by Richo in Chapter 13 – which goes to show that if we want to acquire a green thumb, we must first be willing to have dirty thumbs!). I seem to remember how wonderfully everything grew without the addition of soil nutrients.

I've been gardening ever since that boyhood plot and couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. Through The Medicinal Herb Grower and his visit to my home and as a guest teacher to our seminar I personally find Richo to be rich source of useful information and inspiration that has made a positive difference in my gardening this year.

Each spring, the honeysuckle flowers gather at the end of their stems to trumpet their sweet, gentle scent of purification and renewal. When I lead an herb walk in my backyard, I always pause with my students in homage at the woodbine (honeysuckle vine). After a discussion of the powerful antibiotic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and not least, anticancer properties of this gentle herb, I facetiously tell my students to pick a dry weight pound of honeysuckle blossoms as part of their initiation into the world of herbs.

The painstaking task I suggest to my students is something I’ve never personally undertaken. Generally, I don’t pick honeysuckle flowers myself, with the excuse that it’s too much work. Probably it is for this same reason that despite the herb’s fantastic properties of purification and detoxification, it is seldom used by Western herbalists. (This moment does not pass with a feeling of silent gratitude for some poor Chinese peasant who invested hours of time and patience to pick a pound of jin yin hua for a pittance so that I could in turn purchase the flowers at a cost of just a few U.S. dollars.) It’s impossible to only use herbs I personally grow or harvest in my clinic, but in an attempt to complete the cycle from nature to nurture, I always try to harvest some part of the herbs I use every year. This spring, I could not resist the temptation to pick some fresh honeysuckle flowers for personal use and for some clients in my clinic.

Honeysuckle flowers tend to grow in small clumps of up to eight or more blossoms. At first, they are luminescent white; then, as the heat of the sun bears down on them, they begin to yellow with age. I don’t know it for certain, but I imagine that the white flowers are more potent. I single these out for harvest.

Well, in the space of 30 minutes I probably harvested eight to 10 ounces – that is fresh and wet, not dry! Still, the effort is worth it. I think of ascetic monks who charge themselves to the repetition of a mantra counted on a rosary (mala) of hundreds to thousands a day – how much more transcendent and connecting of heaven and earth would it be, if they were put to the task of picking honeysuckle flowers while quietly repeating their prayer? Imagine the even greater healing spiritual energy prayer-picked honeysuckle blossoms would take on!

Medicinal Applications of Honeysuckle Flowers and Leaves

Jin yin hua, the most common species of honeysuckle used in Asia, is Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). With over a hundred species worldwide, ranging in a wide arrange of sizes and colors (including red!) the plants are all in the Caprifoliacea family along with Sambucus (elder). According to herbalist Christopher Hobbs, elder has chemistry and properties similar enough to be used interchangeably with honeysuckle flowers. Lonicera fruit can be red, blue or black and contain several hard seeds. In most species the berries are regarded as mildly poisonous with the notable exception of L. caerulea whose berries are edible. Nevertheless, it is not the berries, but the flowers and leaves that we are after when we look to honeysuckle as a medicinal.

Jin yin hua, which aptly translates as “golden silver flower,” is one of the first herbs considered for the treatment of infections, inflammation, fevers and toxicity. It is an herbal antibiotic effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria including Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Bacillus dysenteeriae, Vibrio cholera, Salmonella typhi, Diplococcus pneumonia, Diplococcus meningitides, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acid in the herb has the strongest antibiotic effects. According to Chen and Chen (Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology, 2004, Art of Medicine Press Inc.), the fresh herb only soaked in water has a stronger antibiotic than an herbal decoction, with the leaves having an even stronger antibiotic properties than the flowers.

Honeysuckle flowers are classified as sweet and cold and enter the Lung, Stomach and Large Intestine meridians. They are effectively dosed anywhere from 10 to 60 grams and are used for the common cold with symptoms of fever and thirst, upper respiratory tract infections, boils, furuncles, enteritis and dysentery. For diarrhea and dysentery with watery stool, honeysuckle is taken dry fried and carbonized.

One of the most common formulas using honeysuckle is the famous Yin Qiao San, widely used for treating colds and influenza. However, its broader detoxifying and heat-clearing properties makes it useful for inflammatory skin conditions, inflammations of the upper respiratory tract and is taken both internally and externally for mastitis as well as lung and breast cancer. Several studies (1, 2, 3) have shown that extracts of honeysuckle promote apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth. For more on the anticancer uses of Lonicera and other herbs, I recommend my book Treating Cancer with Herbs published by Lotus press.

The flowers are not the only part of Lonicera that are useful medicinally. While not specifically designated, the leaves have even stronger antibiotic effects than the flowers. This may inspire herbalists to personally harvest and try using more generous doses of Lonicera aerial parts for all infectious diseases. In this regard, though I’ve not tried it, one might consider the use of strong honeysuckle tea, perhaps with added fresh ginger and a little licorice for recalcitrant infections like Lyme’s disease.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a specific through similar anti-inflammatory use for Lonicera stems which are called jin yin teng or ren dong teng. This part of the plant has milder anti-toxin effects but is specific for arthritic and rheumatic conditions, described in TCM as bi pain or ‘wind-dampness.’

While many contemporary western herbalists regard honeysuckle as exclusive to the domain of Chinese herbal medicine, the Roman naturalist writer Pliny recommended it mixed with wine for the treatment of “disorders of the spleen.” This may suggest yet another possible use for honeysuckle: depression. In ancient Greek humoural medicine, the spleen is associated with the black bile humour which in turn is associated with melancholy, or depression. To my knowledge there is no contemporary use of honeysuckle flowers for the treatment of depression unless one considers its use as a homeopathic Bach flower remedy for a certain kind of depression associated with nostalgia.

I’ve always been eager to incorporate and use any herb or healing principle so long as it is safe and effective. This is why I came up with my own approach to herbalism, Planetary Herbology, embodied in the East West Herb Course. If I were an Ayurvedic herbalist or a curandero living in the Amazon jungle, if I learned about the fantastic uses of an herb like Lonicera, I’d have a hard time not wanting to put it to immediate use. If you’ve got a honeysuckle vine giving its profuse blooms over a fence or trellis in your yard at this time of year, I hope you’re inspired to snip some leaves and flowers for medicine; it’ll come in handy later this year!

Now that I’m on to ginseng-like herbs, here’s another one that can be taken during the summer. Its real name is Panax notoginseng, known in Chinese pinyin as san qi, but is best known by its commercial name, Tien qi ginseng.

It is definitely in the ginseng family, but has quite different properties from the ones we usually associate with other ginsengs.

Rather than tonifying Qi, this herb moves and builds Blood. But even better, while it moves Blood it also stops bleeding. This makes it a perfect application for any trauma from falls, fractures, contusions, wounds, cuts or sprains (for this reason it is used extensively by martial artists) and to stop bleeding in vomit, urine or stool along with nosebleeds and hemorrhaging.  

In fact, it is used for any internal and external bleeding and should be taken frequently for this, both internally and externally placed on the wound in powder or liniment form. It is called Yunan Bai Yao in its patent form, which is widely used to stop bleeding, specifically from gunshot wounds.  

San qi also reduces swelling, alleviates pain and dissolves blood clots. I have seen it dissolve large blood clots and slow excessive menstrual bleeding and hemorrhage (high doses are needed for both).  It is used for chest, abdominal and joint pain and diabetic retinopathy. As well, it lowers blood pressure and increases coronary artery flow. Because of its tonic circulatory properties, it is one of the most popular of all herbs used by the Chinese. 

Image of San qi tubers from: ITM Online.

San Qi

Latin: Panax notoginseng, P. pseudoginseng

Family: Araliaceae

Part Used: root

Energy, taste and Organs affected: warm; sweet, slightly bitter; Liver, Stomach, Large Intestine

Actions: stops bleeding

Properties: hemostatic, cardiac tonic

Biochemical constituents: arasaponin A, arasaponin B, dencichine

Dose: 1-3 g powder; 3-9 g whole root, decoction; apply topically as needed

Precautions: pregnancy; Deficient Blood or Yin

Other: also known as pseudoginseng, notoginseng, tienchi, tien qi and tian qi

Indications: internal and external bleeding, nosebleed, blood in urine, vomit, mucus or stool, traumatic injury due to falls, fractures, contusions and sprains, chest and abdominal pain, angina, coronary heart diseases, joint pain, hemorrhage, injuries, wounds, excessive menstruation, diabetic retinopathy

Although not a ginseng at all, codonopsis has similar tastes, energies and tonifying properties as ginseng. As well, both herbs affect the Lung and Spleen organs and meridians. Yet, because it is milder in action and far less expensive, codonopsis is often called the “poor man’s ginseng.”

Because the body’s fires are rising up and out during the summertime, it’s important to switch from using ginseng to codonopsis. Its milder energy is more appropriate for hotter weather and so traditionally is substituted for ginseng in the summer. Partly this may be due to codonopsis not having the potential to stagnate energy as easily as does ginseng, but also because it lowers blood pressure while ginseng elevates it.

Excess heat in the body not only can congest energy, but it rises as well, just as steam rises from a fire. The strong tonifying action of ginseng more easily congests already stagnant energy, which is why it is most always given along with a qi-moving herb. And in the summer, higher outside temperatures can combine with our own inner fires rising upward and outward to create more inner heat if it is not naturally dispersed through activity, sweating and a cooler diet. Ingesting strong tonic herbs in the summer can congest that heat and lead to many unpleasant symptoms.

Some also believe that codonopsis tonifies blood as well as qi and promotes the production of body fluids, making it particularly useful for women. It is even beneficial for nursing mothers as it helps produce milk and its nutrients are especially nourishing to babies. Furthermore, it’s useful for teething babies, as its hard, sweet tasting root can be held like a stick.

When combined with astragalus, it builds immunity, helpful during the weather changes in Spring. It may be given along with exterior-releasing herbs (diaphoretics) for colds and flu in those who are weak.

Its mild action makes it acceptable for children to take as well, helping build muscle and strengthen the digestive, immune and respiratory systems.

According to Ron Teeguarden, “Codonopsis has been demonstrated to have radiation protection activity and can be effective in protecting cancer patients receiving radiation therapy from the side effects without diminishing its benefits. Codonopsis also has interferon-inducing activity that may be of importance in many immune deficiency conditions, including HIV infection.”

Include codonopsis in a weekly tonic soup or morning cereal as a general tonic.

Codonopsis pilosulae

Family: Campanulaceae

Pin yin: dang shen

Part Used: root

Energy, taste and Organs affected: neutral; sweet; Lungs, Spleen

Actions: tonifies Qi

Properties: energy tonic, demulcent, expectorant

Biochemical constituents: saponin, starch, sugar, inulin, alkaloids, sucrose, glucose

Dose: 9-30 g, decoct for 20-30 minutes; eat root after cooking

Precautions: do not use with veratri (li lu)

Other: codonopsis is frequently substituted for Chinese ginseng

Indications: lack of appetite, fatigue, tiredness, weakness, poor digestion, gas, weak arms and legs, bloatedness, diarrhea, vomiting, prolapse of uterus, stomach or rectum, chronic cough, shortness of breath, copious white to clear mucus

Uses: Codonopsis is a primary herb used to tonify Qi, particularly of digestion (the Spleen) and immunity (the Lungs). It is similar to Chinese ginseng, but milder in energy and actions (and cheaper, too!) and so is safe for long-term treatment, in all climates (it is typically given in summer rather than ginseng) and by both sexes. Codonopsis increases vital energy, strengthens digestion and assimilation and treats diabetes and hyperacidity. It is given in all diseases associated with weakness, debility after illness, tiredness, lack of strength, poor appetite and anemia. It also alleviates diarrhea, vomiting, gas, bloatedness, chronic cough and shortness of breath. 

We have now moved into the "Heart time" of the year. It runs from about mid-April through June and encompasses the traditional Chinese medical concept of the fire element and the organs of Heart and Small Intestine. At this time of year everything is surging upward and outward. This includes not only our own outdoor activities, but the body’s energy as well. The Heart time of year is represented by the energy of summer, even though it may not correspond to what we think of as summer calendar-wise.

Summer is the essence of life, growth, heat and activity. Not surprisingly, the fire element and its organs, Heart and Small Intestine, correlate with summer. With the sun at its zenith, nights are short and days are long. Our energy is expansive now, flowing outward to act on the plans and seeds sowed in spring. Similarly, the body’s heat, or “inner fire,” starts rising close to the surface, cooling us inside. We are motivated now to pursue sports, gardening, yard work, hiking or other outdoor activities. We feel compelled to get things done, work and socialize. With increased heat, circulation and joy (the Heart’s emotion), we generally feel more optimistic, find it easier to work on relationship issues, and experience increased sex drive.

General Lifestyle Suggestions for Summer Health

While the fiery energy of summer pulls us into activity, we need to guard against over-activity and over-excitement, as these injure the Heart and deplete our trust fund’s energy reserves and rob our bodies of their vital Essence needed for the rest of the year. If we experience low energy now, it’s often because we didn't rest sufficiently during winter, or we’re overly active. Tiredness, exhaustion and “burnout” result, particularly if we go from dawn to midnight, accomplishing many different tasks, socializing more, working out a lot, skipping meals and snacking instead, having more sex and fitting in vacations, house repairs and yard work with everything else.

Summer is actually the time to protect your energy, especially for those who already have low energy. Thus, rest during the hotter hours of the day (this is siesta time in many countries), pace yourself, delegate, prioritize, moderate activities and exercise, and eat three regular meals daily. Take Siberian ginseng to enhance endurance and immunity.

Dressing in summer seems easy - the fewer the clothes the better. Yet, regularly baring midriffs exposes the Kidneys and abdomen to Coldness, ultimately depleting Essence and metabolism respectively. Those who frequently feel cold should maintain body heat by covering up on cooler summer days. Air conditioning can lower immunity and cause colds or chills, especially if kept too high, or if indoor/outdoor temperatures differ extremely. If air conditioning is a must, keep it at a higher temperature to more closely match that of the outdoors, and wear a sweater.

Summer Ailments and Dietary Suggestions

Because our fires are closer to the surface, we can easily overheat through over-exposure to the sun, heated environments, or hot-natured foods. Lighter, easier to digest foods are appropriate now, such as fruit, salads, grains and legumes. Red meat and excess meat eating should be kept at a minimum, if eaten at all.

People with Excess Heat often feel worse in summer and are generally tired, sluggish and easily overexcited or impatient in hot environments. Many are easily prone to heat exhaustion, headaches, arthritis, colds, allergies, hypertension, chest pains and palpitations. Eating too many hot, spicy, greasy, fried foods, red meats, alcohol, sugar, or caffeine, or smoking tobacco, aggravates these symptoms. Instead, eat fresh vegetables, salads, fruits, legumes, white meats, mung beans, watermelon, soy bean sprouts and room temperature herbal teas.

Drinking excessive amounts of cold and iced drinks causes Stomach Heat (any season) with headaches across the forehead, bad breath, bleeding gums, ravenous hunger, extreme thirst (especially for cold drinks), constipation, nausea, vomiting, sour regurgitation, or mouth ulcers. In fact, iced drinks taken with fatty or fried foods causes cholesterol according to the Chinese because cold drinks “encapsulate” fat, making it indigestible and turning it into fatty deposits in the blood vessels. Although we like iced drinks in the West, they also ultimately create this Heat because the body has to increase metabolic warmth in order to digest them. People who live in hot climates mostly drink hot teas and eat spicy foods since these make the body sweat, ultimately cooling it.

Other people eat excessive amounts of cooling foods in summer, such as salads, raw foods, iced drinks/foods, juices, smoothies, melons, soymilk and too much fruit. Since these cool the digestive soup pot, they cause poor digestion and assimilation, also known as Spleen Qi deficiency, resulting in undigested food in the stools, gas, bloatedness, sleepiness after meals, low immunity, weakness, tiredness, nausea, loose stools, or diarrhea. Thus, if you tend to feel cold, even in summer, limit intake of cold foods, eat all cooked foods, add spices (such as ginger and cardamom), increase protein (such as red and white meats) and drink warm herbal teas. Balance fruit intake by eating its seeds (like watermelon), or a piece of its peel (these are ancient Asian secrets to “keep the doctor away”).

Summer Herbs for Balance

The cooling and drying qualities of the bitter taste strengthen the Heart and Small Intestines and eliminate excess fluid and cholesterol from the blood. Spicy herbs, such as those used in chilies and curries, open the pores and create perspiration to cool the body. Herbs such as mint, lemon balm, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, red clover, violet leaves, honeysuckle, borage, rosehips and green tea also cool the body and make refreshing summer drinks. Hawthorn and longan, because they nourish the Heart, are good now as well. Don’t take ginseng or other strong warming tonics during summer (unless you’re weak) because they’re too heating and stagnating now, potentially causing headaches, chest pains, stomachaches, or excessive thirst and sweating.

Almost exactly one year ago today, I published a blog post, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Flu,” about the corporate-made H1N1 fraud.

Now, according to Digital Online, the German news source Der Spiegel published an exhaustive article describing how 30 representatives of Big Pharma met with WHO Director-General Chan and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at WHO headquarters for the sole purpose of discussing how to move the H1N1 threat to a phase 6 or pandemic level. 

Once upon a time, the term “pandemic” represented a critical worldwide health threat; somehow it was downgraded to simply mean a world disease. 

Hopefully this will awaken more people to the threat of the takeover of the world's economies by multi-national corporations generally, and by Big Pharma in particular.

Few of us can fathom the threat posed by these companies. Having no allegiance to any country and so glutted with wealth, they can shift at will, moving their base from one part of the globe to another. In this way, they are able to benefit from lower operational costs and can bypass national regulations because international regulations, are weaker and more difficult to enforce. While this is true to an alarming extent for all large corporations, it is especially an issue with Big Pharma, whose particular power can hold the people of the world hostage to their mostly “toxic” wares.   

The Der Spiegel exposé, depicting Big Pharma's ability to cloud and influence the judgment of the director of the World Health Organization and of the United Nations for their personal profit, vividly illustrates the power and persuasion unique to that industry. It also makes credible the stories that assert, based on an analysis of the DNA strands of the H1N1 virus showing origin from various parts of the world, that the virus was deliberately created giving this entire hoax an even more Orwellian dimension than most of us are able or willing to embrace.

My first Chinese herb teacher Foon Lee Wong once cryptically remarked: "It’s not good to be too healthy."

Since then I’ve often thought of native peoples throughout the world described by early explorers as remarkable specimens of health. These natives ate the purest foods, drank the purest water, breathed the freshest air, and naturally enjoyed plenty of sunlight and exercise. However, they easily fell prey to newly introduced pathogens that decimated their numbers within two or three generations. Ironically, it was the less healthy, vitamin-deficient, scurvy-ridden European conquerors and colonists who visited such devastation upon the otherwise healthy native people.

Considering the quality of the food, air, water and environment sustaining most humans today, I don’t think most of us will ever be at risk for being "too healthy." On the other hand, is there a danger of being too insulated from the positive and negative influences of the society and world we live in, so that the first principle of survival, "evolve or die" is ignored?

Recently, I saw a TV news segment about a woman who was "cured" from a condition I had never heard of: othorexia nervosa.

The ‘before’ of this segment was the woman deploring her personal obsession with health food and the negative impact it was having on her family and social life. In the 'after' segment, we see the happier, newly liberated and cured woman proudly feeding her two young daughters Kellogg’s Froot Loops (the first ingredient of which is refined sugar and other ingredients including carcinogenic hydrogenated oil) and denatured cold, homogenized milk for breakfast.

What is orthorexia nervosa, exactly? According to this entry on Wikipedia, it's "an eating disorder characterized by excessive focus on eating healthy foods. In rare cases, this focus may turn into a fixation so extreme that it can lead to severe malnutrition or even death."

This could be a more politically correct term to replace the old pejorative "health nut" label leveled at health food junkies!

I wondered: Could there be a term for the far more prevalent "eating disorder" that steers toward too much junk food, which of course leads to all kinds of diseases? I even wondered whether the condition called orthorexia nervosa is the actually expression of a wider movement by certain segments of society and the medical community, or even of junk food manufacturers, to discredit health foods!

In light of Foon's warning about the possible downside of being too healthy, as an herbalist and acupuncturist close to the center of the health food movement for 40 years, I have most certainly treated rather large numbers of patients who made themselves sick by overdoing a particular fad diet or lifestyle. This includes malnourished vegetarians, vegans, macrobiotics, high-protein Atkins and high-fat paleolithic dieters who made themselves sick by adopting such a rigid way of eating.

I remember treating a man diagnosed with bone cancer whose body was jaundiced orange and in a state of stiffened pain as a result of a stay at a cancer treatment center in Northern California. The treatment there consisted of an exclusive diet of carrot juice and a daily regime of high colonics.

Over the years, many young people have come to me complaining of chronic lethargy and anemia as a result of a misapplication of a yogic vegetarian diet. They got into trouble by going overboard and leaving out legumes and dairy, which is vital to a well-rounded vegetarian diet.

And believe it or not, an older, skinny, malnourished, macrobiotic patient at the London Macrobiotic Center hit me with her umbrella because I suggested that she might gain significant benefit from including a little pork in her diet!

It seems that no matter what supposed "health" diet one follows, it is often accompanied with an attitude of moral superiority to others who do not adhere to the same rules.  In other words, some vegetarians feel morally superior to carnivores; vegans, eschewing all animal products, look down on "weak-willed" vegetarians who give into cheese or the occasional ice cream; and fruitarians who assert their superiority by eating only fruit, nuts and seeds.

But at the top of the list of orthorexics is the small, select number of "breatharians" who claim to subsist on nothing but air and light. They don't even need to drink water. No joke! I say ‘small and select’ because either they cheat and eat and drink on the sly, they abandon the diet deeming themselves weak-willed failures... or, they die.

I vividly remember a breatharian proponent in my hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif. (a place that at various times might qualify as one of the ‘othorexic’ capitals of our great nation), who recommended a transition diet of yellow foods, especially yellow-colored ice cream. He gained a short-lived number of followers who forsook their loyalty when the supposed breatharian guru was seen buying Snickers bars (not even yellow!) at a local 7-Eleven store.

I could cite many more situations and even some individuals, some quite famous and infamous, whom I might offer up as a candidate of orthorexia nervosa, but I think you get the point.

On the other hand, consider "unorthorexia," perhaps, which remains a far more serious condition than its opposite. Too much junk food, including food disguised as wholesome options, is still the the primary cause of diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, morbid obesity, and to a considerable extent, cancer, throughout the Western world.

In a 1979 column entitled "If I Had My Life to Live Over," Erma Bombeck wrote, "I would have less cottage cheese and more ice cream." Food is so much more than just fuel for the body. Perhaps a diet of mindful moderation is the most healthful path of all.