Eat More Salt!
And Other Unorthodox Health Resolutions
When I question new patients about dietary habits, sometimes they think I want to hear that they follow a low fat, salt free, raw food, vegan diet (or some version of this austerity plan). All the health gurus say this is the road to nutritional nirvana, right? Well, I come bringing tidings of great joy! We have carried much of this advice too far, often leaving ourselves in a state of depletion. Chinese medicine is all about balance, and austerity is NOT a balanced approach. The following advice embraces the idea of re-balancing ourselves from a Chinese medical perspective.
- EAT MORE SALT (UNREFINED THAT IS)
Ever hear of the expression that somebody is (or isn't) "worth his salt?" That originates from the ancient understanding that salt consumption was completely essential to life and that salt, coming from a sometimes distant sea, was a precious resource. In Chinese medicine, we ascribe the consumption of the "five flavors" to the ultimate production and maintenance of our vital organ systems. As one of these flavors, salt nourishes the Kidney system, which among other things sustains our life essence, stabilizes the heart and keeps our bones healthy and strong. (Not terribly minor functions!) We have become so terrified of salt, that we have left ourselves in a depleted state. Many forward thinking physicians recognize that iodine deficiency is near epidemic proportions, due in part to our salt phobia. Sure, maybe that refined white stuff is bad (especially when it's loaded on a large order of french fries). But consuming unrefined salt provides a plethora of essential minerals beyond sodium and keeps our thyroid and adrenal functions normal, all without making us hypertensive. In fact, there is good evidence that unrefined salt consumption can actually lower blood pressure as well as alkalize our pH levels. (Our American diet tends to make us too acidic, which can weaken our bones.) Symptoms of too little unrefined salt in the diet range from heart palpitations to depression and anxiety.
Solution: Salt your (otherwise healthy) food liberally with unrefined sea salt (Celtic gray or Himalayan pink salts are good choices). Symptoms can be addressed by using 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon in 16 oz. of water consumed several times a day.
- DITCH THE SALADS, SMOOTHIES AND PROTEIN BARS
When I think salads, smoothies and protein bars, I think blechh! How unappetizing. Fortunately, your body's Stomach and Spleen Qi system agrees. In short, your Stomach and Spleen Qi is responsible for turning what you consume into what you are. Think of it like a factory. It takes the input of food and creates the output of you. The first step in the factory's transformational process is to make "100 degree soup." The Stomach doesn't like cold, raw or dry food because it has to waste its QI by warming it, cooking it and moistening it to make its "soup." A factory overwhelmed with improper food will create a big waste pile -- such as excess mucous or body fat. Yuck on both counts.
Solution: Eat warm, cooked, moist food. Vegetables, legumes and whole grains are wonderful for you, but eat them cooked and warm. As long as you ditch a high sugar version, cooked oatmeal is a great breakfast. Otherwise, real "100 degree soup" is a fabulous substitute for those raw, cold and dehydrated foods. Download my recipe in the side bar for a good place to start!
- RED MEAT, IT DOES A BODY GOOD
Nobody tell the Dairy Counsel that I've hijacked their slogan. Problem is that milk, it doesn't do a body good. Dairy (as well as refined carbs) completely mucks up the Stomach and Spleen Qi factory. Remember, phlegm and body fat! However, according to Chinese medicine, nothing nourishes your blood quite like red meat. Over the millennia, red meat has gotten a bad rap. I'm sure that this is in no small part due to portion distortion and modern practices that yield low quality, low cost meat. (There was no McDonald's in ancient China.) Other forms of high quality animal based protein are also essential to Qi and blood production. The bottom line, however, is that without some red meat, it's hard to make good blood. Without good blood, we get crabby, tired, cold, sluggish, foggy brained, and even have a hard time getting to sleep at night.
Solution: Good quality, lean, grass fed, hormone free beef regularly consumed in reasonable quantities will do your body good, by nourishing your blood. You can even put it in your 100 degree soup!
