Fall Recipe for Cough - Steamed Banana with Rock Sugar
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Fall - Cough & Other Lung Diseases
Fall is the season that is vital to lung health because it is the season dominated by dry air which can cause lung heat to accumulate. It is important to avoid too spicy and hot foods to prevent further intensifying of lung heat. Eating white colored foods such as white beans and raw white turnips can help to soothe lung and lower heat.
To promote lung health on a regular basis, deep breathing exercises can strengthen lungs and increase their capacity. Researchers have found that eating apples at least five times a week can help to promote strong lungs by removing toxins from them effectively.
According to Chinese medicine, chronic cough can be caused by external evils or an internal functional imbalance. External factors can be wind cold, wind heat and dry heat. Internal factors can be due to lung qi deficiency resulting in lung heat and phlegm or due to liver fire surging out of control.
For cough associated with fever and common cold, herbs such as ma-huang, aconite, asarum and bupleurum are used to ventilate the lungs, relieve exterior symptoms, stop coughing and dispel phlegm. For chronic cough due to internal injury with wheezing: pinellia, cinnamon, ginger, peony and licorice are used to clear lungs, strengthen the spleen, alleviate cough and resolve sputum.
Food cures for cough due to excessive heat type are Chinese pear, white turnip, sugar cane juice and steamed papaya with honey. They are most effective in lowering heat and relieving cough. Drinking, smoking and spicy foods should be avoided in order not to irritate the throat and intensify coughing. Food promoting digestion and sending energy downwards can relieve phlegm dampness due to spleen deficiency.
Emphysema begins with chronic bronchitis or bronchial asthma. It is the damage of lung tissue over a long period of time mostly due to smoking or environmental factors. The common symptoms are wheezing, coughing, a feeling of pressure in the chest and difficulty in breathing on physical exertion. It is a sickness that cannot be completely cured.
During asthma attack, Chinese doctors treat the excesses first. When the attack is over, treatment will be for restoring the proper functions of the deficient parts. Food cures for treating cold excess are to warm the lungs, resolve phlegm and relieve asthma. Foods for treating heat excess are to clear lung heat, resolve phlegm and relieve asthma. For treating lung deficiencies, foods to invigorate kidney are used because kidney is considered to be the main source of qi for lungs. When there is sufficient qi, it can prevent abnormal flow of qi and asthma attacks.
Steamed Banana with Rock Sugar
SYMPTOMS
Chronic cough
THERAPUTIC EFFECTS
Stops coughing.
INGREDIENTS
- Bananas – 2 to 3
- Rock sugar – to taste (30 to 60gm)
DIRECTIONS
1. Remove skin of bananas and cut into one inch sections.
2. Break rock sugar into smaller pieces.
3. Put both ingredients inside a bowl with water half covering the banana.
4. Place the bowl inside a pot or a steamer to steam for 10 minutes.
5. Remove bowl, let cool down a bit and serve.
USAGE:
Take once every evening for one week to see best results.
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If you would like a downloadable information sheet that will tell you all about how to live in harmony with the Fall Season in Chinese Medicine, you can find it here - The Fall Season in Chinese Medicine.
Lo-han Fruit for Soothing Throat and Cough
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Luo Han Guo or Lo-han fruit is a fruit which has been used as a medicinal herb for treating cough and sore throat for centuries in China and is popularly considered to be a longevity aid.
The fruit is collected as a round green fruit that turns brown upon drying. The outer surface of the dried fruit is round and smooth, dusty yellow-brown or dusty green-brown. It is covered with fine, soft hair. The fruit is covered by a hard but thin shell. Inside is a partly dry, flexible substance containing the juice, as well as a large number of seeds. The skin, juicy part, and seeds all have a good sweet flavor. Its nature is cool, and it has no poison.
The sweet taste of Lo-han fruit primarily from mixed mogrosides and are estimated to be about 300 times as sweet as sugar by weight, so that the 80% extracts are nearly 250 times sweeter than sugar. It has more recently been developed into a non-caloric sweetener to compete with other herbal sweeteners in relation to diabetes and obesity, because it can substitute for caloric sugars normally consumed in the diet.
The dried Lo-han fruit is very inexpensive and each one is about the cost of a fresh lemon but has many medicinal benefits. It is known to help relieve sunstroke, moistens the lungs, eliminates phlegm, stops cough, and promotes bowel movements.
Applications:
1. Heat stroke with thirst: Take one fruit, break it open and stir into boiled water. Drink the liquid in place of tea.
2. Acute or chronic throat inflammation: Take half a fruit and 3-5 seeds. Cover with hot water and simmer for 20 minutes, then swallow the tea very slowly.
3. Chronic cough: Take 1 piece of fruit, cover with water, simmer, and drink the liquid. Do this twice each day.
4. Constipation in the aged: Take 2 pieces of fruit, obtain the juicy part and the seed (put the shell aside for other uses), break apart, cover with water, and simmer. Drink before going to bed.
5. Diabetes: Take an appropriate measure of the fruit and crush it or simmer it into a thick juice and add to food being prepared, using it as a substitute for sugar.
The following is a very easy recipe for general detox or soothing throat infection with phlegm. It can be consumed regularly especially in late fall and early winter months. Please explore other recipes on our website (www.nourishu.com) using the fruit to cook as tea or soup.
Lo-han Quo Green Tea
Symptoms
Throat infection with phlegm.
Therapeutic Effects
Clear phlegm and toxic materials in the lungs. This recipe is good for prevention too.
Ingredients
- Lo-han quo 羅漢果 – half
- Green tea - adequate
1. Put both ingredients in a teapot and pore in adequate boiling water, cover lid and brew for 5 minutes. Serve as tea.
Usage
Drink throughout the day with no restrictions.
Lo-Han Fruit for Soothing Throat & Cough : Chinese Medicine Living
