Hana asks “I’ve problems with arthritis in my hands. What can help me because it is painful and I must do everything because I’ve take care of my husband that passed 3 strokes and hardly can walk. I’ll be very obliged if You can suggest some herbs or something else.”

Arthritis can manifest in 2 ways, either with or without inflammation.
In Chinese Medicine this is an obstruction syndrome called Bi Syndrome. This is characterized as, usually, wind/cold/damp invasion of the joints. More often than not you need to dispel the cold/damp from the area by warming and dispeling.

There are a few herbs that are quite specific for the job here. Yu Jin / Turmeric Rhizome, Du Huo / Angelica Dahurica, Qiang Huo / Notopterygium, and Fang Feng / Siler are some of the main herbs for this condition. Normally these herbs are pretty easy to source, but you may not necessarily be able to get all or some of these.

Take these herbs and some fresh ginger and make a strong decoction in equal amounts. I would say about 10 grams of each into 4 cups of water and reduce into 2 cups.  Take half of the decoction and apply to your hands using some flannel cloth and keep reapplying and keeping warm. Take the rest of the decoction and drink warm in two parts that day.

If you don’t know how or can’t source some or any of these herbs then put 8oz of fresh ginger in 2 cups of apple cider vinegar. Shake that up for 3-10 days and apply that to your hands 3 times a day.

The best solutions to a complicated problem like arthritis is the application of Liniments. Liniments are very potent extractions of herbs in alcohol. The liniments are applied directly to the area and allow for quick penetration of the herbs. The herbs listed above can make a good liniment, but good liniments take some time to make. Some very specific top of the line liniments made are Dimmak Herbs Liniments. For arthritis the Joint Renew Arthritis Liniment would be appropriate and it includes about 15-20 herbs and essential oils including Tea Tree Oil. If your going to pick up some products there for arthritis you should also take Blood Purifier, as this has herbs that would be called upon for fighting arthritis internally!

Share This

I have gotten many emails about recipes for Congee and Kicharee. Although the generic recipes are posted here: http://blogofherbs.com/recepies/food-for-life-and-health-kicharee , http://blogofherbs.com/recepies/appetite-for-health-heres-a-recipe-congee .
Many people don’t want to figure out how to make recipes by adding in their own ingredients. Well, here is my favorite Congee recipe although I do make my Congee very similar to Kicharee. The difference to me is that I make congee with a little sweetness and dates/berries and Kicharee with vegetables and such.

Ok here is a list of what you need:
1/4 cup Adzuki Beans
1/4 cup Red Beans
1/4 cup Mung Beans
2.5 cups Brown Rice
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill 7grain hot cereal
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Flax Seed
1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Germ
1 cup Organic Brown Sugar
40g Raisins
Pinch Kombuchu Sea Weed
1tsp Sea Salt
Herbs I-
20g Ginseng/ Ren Shen
20g Astragalus/ Huang Qi
10g Cassia Stick/ Rou Gui
10g Cascara Sagrada
Herbs II-
25g Goji Berries/ Lychii Berry/ Gou Qi Zi
30g Jujube Dates/ Da Zao
2g Dried Ginger/ Gan Jiang
20g Longan Berry/ Dragon Eyes/ Long Yan Rou
10g Cassia Stick/ Rou Gui
10g Rhubarb/ Da Huang

Ok, right now its night time so put all your beans in a large bowl with a large pinch of Kombuchu Seaweed. Cover with fresh water, cover and leave it alone until tomorrow.

Now that its tomorrow and approximately 6 hours you want this to be done and you are able to tend to the Congee in 4 hours, lets get started!
Strain our your beans and throw them in your super large Crockpot. Wash your rice under some water and put that in the Crockpot and cover with water. Fill it up to about 3/4 the way full and set to High for about 20-30 minutes and then set to Low Heat (this isn’t necessary). Let that cook for about 4 hours total stirring a few times to make sure the bottom isn’t cooking by itself.
Now, about the Herbs I and II. Herbs I need to be decocted so they are separated out. You can do this step anytime you like before its time to get back to the Congee after the 4 hours. Here is how you handle that:
Add 4 cups of water to a SS pot. Bring to boil and add herbs. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the water is reduced by half. Strain off herbs and save the liquid…
Back to the Congee, has it been 4 hours already? Great, lets first stir our pot and check the texture. Assuming everything is good lets move on.
Add decocted mixture of Herbs I in the pot, Add the HerbsII pile, raisins, and sugar. Now start stirring and slowly add your Bob’s powders in the pot to ensure no clumping.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything but everything should be in there by now. Top the crockpot off with water and cook this for another 2 hours or so stirring occasionally.

Now that everything is done pack up in Tupperware all your not going to eat now. The Congee shouldn’t be very sweet as is and it should be pretty good. You may sweeten it up a bit if you like. You may also add a little milk for breakfast eating.
This recipe is good for energy, energy regulation, bowel regulation, weight loss, weight management, immune system and brain/function through the day (alertness).

Enjoy Responsibly!

Share This

Lets talk a little about your lungs. Your lungs are much bigger than one thinks at least as far as surface area is concerned. I have seen it quoted that your lungs total surface area is about as big as a tennis court. The area that creates the largest part of the surface area gets down to 1 cell thick so that Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide can pass between them freely. This makes for a delicate area, and a possibility for easy disruption. The lungs must maintain a moist environment and be free of foreign matter.

Now lets turn our attention to 2 common problems had with the lungs and the 2 that I want to talk about. First, the most common problem is congestion. In this huge surface area that I spoke about there is a bottle neck where the trachea branches out into the lungs, called the bronchis. So we have a few weak spots here. So a few common problems happen to clog up the system here. First is that we can get a runny nose and do a little to much snorting and it ends up in your respiratory tract. Second a post nasal drip can drip right back into the respiratory tract. Lastly that natural moisture throughout your lungs can get heated and ‘cook’ that fluid down, or decoct it, and it makes a much thicker fluid- phlegm or mucous.

Next problem I want to discuss is overworking the lungs. Believe it or not you can overwork your lungs. What is happening here is that you are breathing very heavily and the air is not able to gather moisture and equalize in air temperature. If you would like to see this in action just set the computer down and go for a sprint outside and continue running while you are breathing very heavily. You will eventually stop and your lungs will feel quite uncomfortable. I actually got this problem researched and herbal help from it from horses. Racing horses take lung supplements as they overwork their lungs and usually bleed after races.

So lets talk about some herbs for your lungs.
Thyme- yes, good old household thyme in your kitchen is a great lung herb and you probably have it already.
Mullein- a very common lung herb here. Mullein is often smoked to lung and cough relief, but we are gonna make a tea instead. Mullein is great because it cools and disperses. As you see the most common problems with the lungs are overworking, heat, and inflammation (bronchitis).
Elecampane / Xuan Fu Hua- Elecampane is not an herb that may be in your collection, but is essential to strengthen the lungs. This is really our main tonifying herb here in the mix. Ayurveda tags Elecampane as promoting the longevity of lung tissue. What we need to do with this herb to tonify, strengthen, and for prevention is to increase this properties through honey frying. Basically heat up a pan and throw your herb in there and slowly add little bits of honey to coat the herb and ’sear’ it on there.
Lobelia / Ban Ban Lian- You will find Lobelia in alot of herbal formulas. This is because Lobelia is an Antispasmodic which means it relaxes muscles and allows the body to accept your formula. Well, that is great but it just so happens that Lobelia has an affinity for the lungs and helps relax the upper respiratory tract. Great Success!
Lastly, we want to throw in some dried Ginger. This will help with our lung ailments and harmonize the formula.
Lastly I would like to mention that Ma Huang or Ephedra would make a great addition assuming that you were not on MAO inhibitors or heart problems. Unfortunately Ephedra was misused as a weight loss herb (which it is NOT used for by ANY herbalist) and it is quite difficult to get now. If you got it, this is a great herb for this formula and can actually increase your breathing ability. While im on this subject Ma Huang is not to be used for a long period of time. So If you are using preventative measures with this herb use low doses.

Throw your combo here in a pot and make some nice tea. Also feel free to ground this all down and make some pills.
If you are really interested in this, but want a professionally done make up of this formula visit Dimmak Herbs and buy the Breath E -Decongestant Pills.

Hope this helps some athletes as well as those with those with lung problems!

Share This

My favorite healthy food is Congee. Congee is basically a porridge made of white rice cooked over several hours. Dispite what you think or what you have read white rice is quite good for you. The important part of white rice in this recipe is to have a soup that is as easy to digest as possible. Many things can be added to the simple medium of congee, its like a casserole add anything you want to it. Here is the basic recipe:

Add 2 cups white rice to 18 cups water in a crockpot and let slow cook for about 7 hours.  

If you are not sick in anyway, then brown rice may be substituted. Now for the additives-
Mung Beans- I always recommend these be in Congee as they are good for the entire body in any condition. Add 1/2 cup pre-soaked beans.
Immunity/Longevity/Health/Vitality: I recommend this combination be added to congee always as it is general health building and a tonic! 6g Ginseng, 12g Codonopsis/Dang Shen, 9g Dang Gui, 9g Goji Berries/Gou Qi Zi/Lychii Berries, 9g Huang Qi/Astragalus, 10-20 JuJube Dates/Da Zao, and 4g Ginger. That will make a very nice base for your congee!
Adzuki Beans: Use these beans for bladder or kidney problems including water retention. These are sometimes called small red beans.
Add barley, wheat germ, fennel, brewers yeast or anything else to get vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber!
Add any vegetable you like for vitamins, minerals, and their individual properties.

This is traditionally taken as a breakfast. Organic brown sugar may be added after the cooking process for extra energetic properties in the morning. If you are frail, weak, or sick you may take the congee through the day for several days until you feel better. You will be surprised how well you feel after you eat the congee and how easy it is to keep down. For degenerative diseases and after times of chemotherapy Add 9g of Chen Pi/Citrus Peel to the formula and take as all your meals for 7days (or as long as you can make it!)
This recipe will make a generous amount of congee for you and your family, so enjoy!

Feel free to ask any questions or get help on a congee recipe.

Share This