Geri asks me: “Hi, I have been constantly sick for years, catching everything going. Immune system shot. Started Miso soup 3-5 days a week and didn’t get sick for months. But, gained 15lbs. Dr. advised i stop it, and lost 6 pounds within a week.
Would the miso have any benefit to me if i drank just 2 tablespoons a day instead of small bowl? Small amounts of vitamins and medications suit me, and am always told take the least of anything due to reactions.
What do you think?
Thanks very much. Geri “

So, lets see if we can’t help Geri and others raise their immune system in a healthy way. Hopefully we can do it in a way where no one is going to have a reaction!

I would like to start with the Miso Soup. Good job on picking up the miso and sticking to it. Well, gaining 15 lbs in a few months isn’t a medical problem so I don’t know why your doctor would intervene in this when you clearly made a good change and have not gotten sick! Seaweed and the minerals in miso soup are truly miracle workers in themselves. Seaweed is very alkaline which works to balance your body’s pH. Its a fact that people with higher acidic pH levels are more prone to getting sick. Seaweeds also balance your thyroid and metabolism as well. A problem I am seeing is the amount of salt in the miso soup! My suspicions here seem to be confirmed based on the fact that you lost 6 pounds in a week by not eating the miso soup. The saying goes like this “where sodium goes, water follows”. You have clearly built up quite a bit of water weight and your body has been able tore-balance itself when you stopped taking in the miso. You have taxed your kidneys a bit at this point in filtering the sodium out, but now you should be okay.

At this point lets talk about increasing immunity. In Chinese Medicine people don’t ‘catch a cold’. We believe that we are exposed to pathogens (germs) all the time. These external pathogens want to invade us all the time. It depends on the person and their defense system (wei qi or immunity) if they get sick or not.  This old Chinese Medicine way of looking at this has been proven by Western Science. In recent studies on ‘common cold’ or ‘rhino virus’ patients were planed with the rhino virus directly in thenostril . About 60% of the patients got sick. This study was used in very different ways, but as far as Chinese Medicine is concerned- What Happened to the Other 40%? Simply they had defense high enough to dispel the virus!

There are many herbs when used together to supplement the system they can raise your immunity! However, alone there is one that stands atop these called Astragalus or Huang Qi.  Huang Qi is well documented for this task and is recommend for everyone. This is a typical herb used through the Fall and Winter season. I would also note that Echinacea is also used to raise white blood cell count, but this herb should be used in no more than 10 day increments.

Immunity is best done by eating soups and such. Foods like Congee or Kicharee offer foods and herbs that are already cooked down. This allows your body to easily digest and assimilate the nutrients and foods. This really gives your body a break from working so hard on the foods we take in all the time. Also, making a soup or other food like this allows you to add herbs. Herbs for medicinal purposes need to be decocted down. Being in a crockpot and slow cooking for a few hours, you are also decocting these herbs!

Here is a recipe I would like you to switch to:
http://blogofherbs.com/herbs/energy-weight-maintenance-congee-recipe

This Congee recipe has many great herbs and is very uplifting to your energy and immune system. I want you to pay special attention to use the herbs Huang Qi and Dang Gui. If you can’t or aren’t able to source the other herbs that is fine! Huang Qi and Dang Gui together is going to supplement your body and immune system.

For ongoing immunity supplementing you can take pills for this as well! Lung Tonics, Yin Tonics, Immunity Tonics and such are essential here.
Dimmak Herbs sells a formula called ‘Immunity’. These pills contain Ginseng, Huang Qi, Dang Gui, Goji (Gou Qi Zi) Berries, Licorice Root, and about 5 other herbs that synergistically are used to raise your immunity to these external pathogens!

I think between alternating these other foods and maybe eating Miso once a week should be great. Also note the usage of seaweeds in the Congee recipe, add more if you like!

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I have a new recipe that I have been promising to get on here. You can find a few recipes online, but I will show you how I make it and what its about.

I’ve talked before about Congee, a Chinese porridge that is made for the purpose of health and healing. Personally I like Congee for breakfast. The white rice porridge with Gou Qi Zi, Da Zao, some cinnamon and sweeten it up a bit. Add whatever you like, the Chinese like to make Congee for Dinner as well with Fish, etc. I however, like Kicharee for lunch and dinner instead.

Remember in the movie ‘Matrix’ on board the ship they were eating a food that was said to have “everything in it that you need.” Well Kicharee is in fact a food that has everything you need. Kicharee can be eaten at anytime, at any meal, and for as long as you like. Kicharee has a balance of all the nutrients you need, is healing, has huge detox properties, and also supports the body functions. Kicharee has been used as diet therapy to heal cancer and many other degenerative diseases. Eat this when your sick, healing, pre and post surgery, can’t hold food down, want to diet.

First, I will tell you how to make Curry. You may have some already made but this is better and you want it roasted.
Combine:
1 part Turmeric Powder
1 part Cumin Seed Powder and
1/2 part Coriander Powder
in a sauce pan under medium heat. Stir around and heat to a nice roast until a pleasant aroma comes off. The Curry Powder is done at this point if you want to have Curry to cook in other meals. For the Kicharee you need about 1/4 cup and you want to continue to roast it until its a nice brown, set aside.

Here is the rest of what you need. Remember that many things can be added or removed or substituted, etc. Make sure you have a Huge Crockpot for this. A Huge Pot would work but requires more supervision.
2.5 cups Brown Rice
3/4 cup Mung Beans
1 Large Yellow Onion
2 Large Pinches of Kombuchu Seaweed
1/4 cup Curry
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1/8 cup Tamari
Minced Garlic and Ginger
and 1/4 cup of any or all of the following
Flax Seed
Wheat Germ
Buckwheat
Barley
Cracked Wheat
and about 1/2-1 cup of any vegetables you want.

First thing is you need to soak your mung beans overnight. So the night before you need to put the mung beans in a large bowl full of water and add the seaweed to it.
The next day you need to take all of the floating beans and toss them. Drain the mung beans (keep the seaweed) and set aside. Put your rice in a colander and wash with hot water. Put your beans and rice in the crock pot. Add vegetables and the sea weed from the beans. Cover with water over about an inch and set at low for 1 hour. At this point Almost all of your water should be soaked up. Now add your vegetables, meats, herbs, additions of wheats, etc. Add the chicken stock and fill up the crock pot, leaving about 1/4 inch or so, with water. Let your Kicharee continue to cook on low for about 4-5 hours. At this time turn a large frying pan on medium heat. Add olive oil to the the pan and chop your onion. Add garlic and ginger to the oil and add your onion and add olive oil on top of the olive oil. This may seem like a bit of olive oil but look at the pot of Kicharee you have. Cook the onion till the onion is softened, not browned. Add the Tamari and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add your curry in there and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Now add this directly to the crock pot and stir it in well and pour a bit of olive oil on top and stir. Let that cook 20-30 minutes and you are all done. Dish out and put some soy sauce or tamari on top of it. I portion this out into individual bowls and refrigerate the bowls. The kicharee thickens up in the fridge, but thats okay, you can add water to make it as soupy as you like!

Enjoy!
You also may notice you may need to make a trip to the Oriental Grocery Store before making this, and also you are making a gigantic amount, but you will have to portion down on your own if you want.

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Most of the herbs used by a herbalist are not household herbs. In fact, ’spices’ are herbs that are of quite different quality than the others herbs used to treat illnesses most of the time. So, I know that I talk about herbs that many people don’t have around the house. Of course I always recommend the right herbs for the job and I am not here to give you ‘home remedies’ and tell you to take ginger for a huge list of conditions.

Today, I ran across a recipe that I have for food seasoning. This is no normal herbal seasoning. It is a special blend that contains a great deal of vitamins and minerals that can be used to season food. Since most of the ingredients are found in most households, I thought you guys would love a little change :)!

Here is the recipe:
1part each of
Garlic
Parsley
Watercress
Sweet Basil
Oregano
Marjoram
Thyme
Kelp Powder
Dulse Powder
Nettles
Comfrey
Rose Hips
Capsicum
1/4 Part each of
Dandelion
Burdock

It is best to make a small amount of this concoction and check your taste. Adjust as necessary. You can grind in some Sea Salt and Pepper if you really wanna make an all around seasoning, but those can be added separately anyway.
When you get it down the way you want, make a large powder of the seasoning. Large amounts can be used in making stocks or soups. I use this in kicharee and congee recipes for the vitamin and mineral benefits.
Guess how much I save over those who buy multivitamins? The best part is these are being taken as food, so they are assimilated by the body in a natural way!

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