Coronavirus Diet

Eastern dietary therapy is one of the most powerful modalities within the Chinese medicine paradigm because you can implement changes on your own, with the correct guidance. In a time of chaos, there are few things that are as powerful as feeling like you have control over something.

In a recent blog post about Coronavirus from a Chinese medicine perspective, we learned that this virus primarily attacks the lung system, and is a damp pathogen in nature. From this information, we can match our diet to combat this pathogen. These dietary suggestions can be used for prevention or treatment of Coronavirus.

The basic dietary suggestions are that we want foods that expel pathogens and boost the immune system, which is our first line of defense; foods that transform dampness to prevent the cloying, sticky nature of COVID-19; and foods that specifically target and benefit the lung system.

Please keep in mind that these are general recommendations, and therefore some of the recommendations may not be beneficial to you. If you would like individualized suggestions, please get in touch.

  • Note: The most beneficial recommendations are bolded.

Vegetables:

  • Alfalfa Sprouts

  • Artichoke

  • Asparagus

  • Burdock Root

  • Carrots

  • Chives

  • Cilantro

  • Collard Greens

  • Cucumber (with peel)

  • Daikon Radish

  • Dandelion Greens — Found to be extremely effective inhibiting bacteria, virus, and fungus

  • Garlic

  • Jerusalem Artichoke

  • Kale

  • Lotus Root

  • Mushroom (Button, Reishi, ganoderma, shiitake, black, white)

  • Mustard Greens

  • Onion, Leek

  • Parsnip

  • Pumpkin, Winter Squash

  • Scallion (Green Onion)

  • Seaweed

  • Spinach

  • Summer Squash, Zucchini

  • Sweet Potato, Yam

  • Turnip

  • Water Chestnut

  • Watercress

  • Winter Melon

Fruits: Good for prevention and recovery phases of Coronavirus; Be cautious about consuming during initial/severe stage of COVID-19.

  • Apple

  • Apricot

  • Avocado

  • Banana

  • Cherry

  • Chinese Dates (Red or black jujube)

  • Chinese Prune (more sour than sweet, regular prunes are also beneficial)

  • Coconut

  • Fig

  • Goji Berry

  • Hawthorn Berry

  • Lemon, Limes

  • Loquat

  • Mango

  • Mulberry

  • Orange

  • Papaya

  • Peach

  • Pear

  • Persimmon

  • Plum

  • Pomegranate

  • Strawberry

  • Tangerine

Grains:

  • Amaranth

  • Barley

  • Rice

  • Spelt

  • Wheat Bran

Beans & Legumes:

  • Azuki Bean (Aduki, Red)

  • Garbanzo Bean (Chickpea)

  • Lima Bean

  • Mung Bean

  • Pinto Bean

  • Soybean

  • Tofu, Soybean Curd

Nuts & Seeds:

  • Almond

  • Cashew

  • Chestnut

  • Pecan

  • Pine Nut

  • Walnut

  • Winter Melon Seed

Meat, Fish, Poultry, & Animal Products:

  • Beef

  • Chicken

  • Chicken Egg

  • Duck

  • Fish

  • Pork

  • Quail Egg

Miscellaneous Foods, Herbs, & Beverages:

  • Basil

  • Black Fungus (Wood Ears)

  • Black Pepper

  • Brown Sugar, Turbinado

  • Cardamom Seed

  • Cinnamon

  • Cloves

  • Coffee

  • Ginger Root (Fresh)

  • Honey

  • Molasses

  • Olive

  • Rice Vinegar

  • Tea

  • White Fungus (Silver Ears)

7 Positive Developments about the Coronavirus Outbreak

With so much gloom and doom surrounding the recent coronavirus outbreak, it is easy to forget about the more positive aspects, and even silver linings, of this pandemic. Since I’m a silver-lining type of gal, let’s focus on the positives!

  1. China’s Road to Recovery: Thursday, March 19th is the first day where there have been no new domestic cases in China since the outbreak started on December 31, 2019!

  2. Research is a Team Effort: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that 10 countries are working together in an international study to find a viable treatment for patients infected with COVID-19.

  3. Decrease in Air Pollution: Satellites operated by NASA and European counterparts detect significant decreases in nitrogen dioxide over China, due to factories ceasing operations.

  4. Crisis is Creating Business Innovation: Several companies have adjusted production to manufacture items in high demand. Distilleries across the country started to use alcohol supplies to produce hand sanitizer, General Motors and Ford have prepared their factories to be used to manufacture ventilators.

  5. “Keep the Americans Connected Pledge”: More than 200 telecommunication companies and internet services (such as AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast, Cox Communications, Frontier, RNC, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon) throughout the U.S. are waiving late fees and not terminating services for customers who cannot pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

  6. Free TV: Providers of television programming have started making paid content available for free over the internet to keep Americans informed and entertained amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Sling TV, as one of many examples, is providing complimentary access to live coverage from ABC News, in addition to thousands of movies and shows accessible through its website and mobile apps.

  7. The Shows Must Go On: All sorts of musical acts are continuing to be performed live and broadcasted on the internet in an attempt to entertain fans. Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Erykah Badu, Garth Brooks, and Neil Young are among artists who are finding ways to keep their fans happily entertained.

Is Coronavirus Mother Nature's Way of Hitting the "RESET" Button?

In Chinese medicine, we are always interested in how the environment plays a role in health challenges people are facing. A Chinese medical text, named Treatise on the Differential Treatment of Warm Disease (Wenbing tiaobian), which was written by Wu Tang (1758-1836), states, “Winter is supposed to be cold, but if it turns out to be warm instead, then yang is not going into its customary state of storage and the populace will fall ill with warm diseases as a result.”

Although winters are normally characterized by cold weather, this year we had an abnormally warm, rainy winter. Due to this seasonal abnormality, the weather may have allowed for a pandemic disease to occur and spread rapidly. Also, since there was a wetter climate, it allowed damp pathogenic influences to infiltrate the environment, and then into our bodies.

BUT, is this just Mother Nature’s way of hitting the “RESET” button, and reminding us of who is in charge?!

With global pollution always on the rise, environmentalists have been trying without much success to reduce the amount of pollution and wear on the environment that humans have. However, due to COVID-19 shutting down factories and limiting travel, satellite data over China and Italy have indicated that there are less harmful gases in the atmosphere, such as methane, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.

Additionally, animals seem to be filling in the spaces where humans usually populate during this time of isolation. Dolphins and swans were seen swimming in the Venice canals, and monkeys are roaming cities in Thailand.

Although COVID-19 is serious, scary, and having negative ramifications on the human population… Maybe we can take this as a wakeup call when we think of moving forward, where Mother Nature kicked our butts and forced us to listen.

6 Reasons Why Every Athlete Should Have an Acupuncturist

6 Reasons why Every Athlete Should have an Acupuncturist

September 30, 2016

Traditional Chinese Medicine can help athletes in a variety of ways.  Below are six examples of how acupuncture can benefit athletes.  

1. Faster Recovery.

Sometimes injuries occur, even after you have done everything correctly to take care of your body.  This is especially true for athletes.  Sometimes the body receives a hit, twists, overextends, is compressed, or goes through a repetitive motion too many times... Resulting in INJURY!

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine increases the body's ability to heal itself.  Studies have shown that athletes who used acupuncture recovered twice as quickly as those who did not use acupuncture.  Not only do athletes recover more quickly, but they also recover completely, which decreases the possibility for the injury to become chronic or recurrent.  

2. Pain Relief.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine reduce pain experienced after injury or surgery.  Research studies have shown that acupuncture is more effective than any pain-relieving medication that is out on the market (including intravenous morphine!)... And has no side effects!  Acupuncture stimulates endorphins that reduce pain, while also stimulating the body's healing capacity.

3. Maintaining Strength & Endurance. 

Athletes are always asked to go the extra mile.  They push their bodies to the limits throughout their season.  Eventually, performance suffers as a result of these high demands.  The teams who perform best in playoffs are usually the teams that have the most gas left in the tank by the end of the season.  

Traditional Chinese Medicine can help players 'refuel' so that their endurance is as strong at the end of the season as it is after the off-season, where they have allowed their bodies to adequately rest and recover.

4. Injury Prevention.

Every sport requires the body to be used in a repetitive manner.  Over time, repetitive movements and high intensity performance without adequate rest weaken the human body.  When the body is weakened, injuries occur.

For example, think of an elastic band.  When you repetitively use this elastic band over time, eventually it becomes overstretched, causing it to snap and break.  The tendons, ligaments, and muscles, which support the skeletal framework of your body all act in a similar fashion.  Over time, the integrity of the parts of your body cannot maintain the demands placed onto your body, which results in injury.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has always been used to maintain wellness.  Through regular acupuncture treatments, taking Chinese herbal medicine, and consumption of foods that uniquely support your overall health, your body will respond and adapt to the physical demands of sports.  This will allow the elasticity of your tendons, ligaments, and muscles to remain intact, and your joints and bones to remain healthy and strong.

5. Prevention of Common Ailments.

Through receiving regular acupuncture treatments, your overall health will be improved.  Common ailments, such as the common cold and flu, can be prevented.  If such a problem does arise, Chinese medicine will allow you to recover quickly from these ailments so that you can get back in the game.

6. Mental & Emotional Support. 

Athletes are known for their physical and mental toughness.  Confidence intimidates opponents and helps athletes stay at the top of their game.  However, it can be difficult to remain in 'competition mode' all the time.  This may lead to problems such as performance anxiety, agitation, restlessness, or insomnia. 

We understand athletic mentality, but we also understand that when you are mentally and emotionally supported, physical performance is enhanced.  We are here for you.

We understand the high performance demands that athletes experience on a daily basis.  We are committed to helping you maintain your health so that you can remain in the game.