Delicious Chemotherapy

The title of this post might sound weird but not to naturalists, I suppose. What you can see in the photo here is a favorite recipe in the Philippines, it is called "Seafood Afritada". The seafood that can be recognized are the squid rings and the shrimps, perhaps not so much the fried dory fillet and fish tofu. The basic ingredients of "afritada" like potatoes and red bell pepper were of course included.

How about the sauce? Of course there is tomato sauce and soy sauce for seasoning and more, and that "more" is my secret which I would like to share. I add turmeric powder and black pepper, and one important information I'd like to share about these two spices is that when they are mixed together they make a very powerful chemotherapy for cancers. Wait, there should be a salad to go with afritada, and guess what will make the already powerful mixture of black pepper and turmeric as chemotherapy more powerful? It is broccoli, so that should be included as a default in any salad you'll serve with afritada.

Happy eating!

Red lips without lipstick

Do you want your lips to be red? That would be easy if you're an adult, just apply a red lipstick! But for kids, there are really more ways since it is not normal for them to use lipsticks and therefore have to be resourceful. When I was a kid we would just eat a strawberry flavored candy or wipe on our lips the petals of some red flowers.

Yesterday, I was not so comfortable when I was on my way to the FLEX (Foundations of Leadership Excellence) seminar because I forgot the case where I put my lipstick, blush-on and eyebrow pencil, which I usually apply on my face while inside the car.

I planned to use what I learned from TCM which is to stimulate the best acupoint of the spleen meridian found at the middle portion of the inner leg, around four fingers away from the inner ankle, to make my lips red. I could do that by rubbing or pressing the knuckle of my index finger to that point. But my lips were not really pale so I thought there was no need to do that.

I won't deny I was surprised why my lips were not pale as usual that was why a lipstick is an indispensable make-up for me. I thought perhaps my spleen was functioning well yesterday. But there was more to that and I just found out now. I just read that though worrying and over thinking will be bad for the spleen resulting to pale lips and suppressed energy, the opposite, meaning openness or positive thoughts and emotions will help the spleen function properly and that will be manifested by reddish lips. During the two days in the seminar, the participants were required to be open in their thoughts and emotions, especially on the second day.

But wait, there is one more fact to be considered. The spleen will not function well when exposed to cold, even just to cold drinks.

So if you want your lips to remain red or reddish in color, just be positively transparent in your thoughts and emotions , don't worry or over think, wear warm clothes in cold weather or temperature and don't take cold drinks. The bonuses are very important: a continuous supply of energy, good memories that the spleen could direct to the kidneys which are later transferred by the kidneys to the heart. Isn't that awesome?

"The Spleen's positive psycho-emotional attributes are trust, honesty, openness, acceptance, equanimity, balance, and impartiality; its negative attributes are worry, excessive thinking, pensiveness, obsessiveness, remorse, regret, obsessions, and self-doubt."

I'm mad!

Don't get me wrong, that was just the title of this post though I was really a bit mad a few days ago. The title is to call your attention to express your anger, but not by quarreling another person at that angry moment.

Some tips to express your anger:
1. Cry but don't let everyone know you're crying.
2. Shout your anger to the hills, the seas or any place of nature that can easily engulf your anger and replace it with a nice feeling.

Releasing your anger will not only release you from bad feelings but will prevent your liver from stress and from developing cancer cells that will later be distributed to the other vital organs. Anger is the number one cause of breast cancer.

If it's another person that caused your anger, cool down at least a day or two, and when you're in the right senses to listen and understand and speak rationally, discuss the issues with the other person involved.

Mankind Chi

This year of the Metal Rabbit, Feng Shui experts like Lillian Too predicted that "Mankind Chi can be harnessed very effectively to overcome the discordant energies of heaven and earth this year. We can focus on the mankind chi within all of us - focus on strengthening it - and in so doing, more effectively harness the spiritual energy of the empowered self to overcome obstacles and emerge triumphant."

Having read that, I wondered how I am going to harness my mankind chi. All I knew was to get together with people to accomplish that. As a result of meeting people, I was invited to a seminar on "Soul Consciousness". I hope to be more enlightened about my spiritual energy so I immediately said yes! It was amusing to discover how simple it is to place one's spiritual energy at a higher level and I'd like to share that to all.

Each and everyone should actively achieve the original qualities of the soul: peaceful, powerful, pure, positive, loving and joyful. Ten minutes before your regular waking time, meditate on achieving the original qualities of the soul, your soul, for the whole day. If that seem too hard to accomplish, focus on one quality first, until such time all qualities are achieved.

Change should start within ourselves, and now that we know how, we can be confident that everything in our surroundings will change too!

In case of emergency

When a friend or relative suddenly dies, that is so sad. Before my father died of cancer this second week of April, a friend and mentor from Toastmasters Club died of heart attack. And then another friend died yesterday of cardiac arrest. Perhaps people should know the acupoint that may save a person who has passed out for any reason. The acupoint is called Shuigo or GV-26 and is found at the middle right below the nostrils (at the junction of the upper and middle third of the philtrum).

Shuigo or GV-26 is the main point for restoring consciousness, for shock, revival from fainting, weakness, or helps patient to awaken. Specific indications include manic-depressive disorders, epilepsy, infantile convulsion, coma, trismus, puffiness of the face, deviation of the mouth and eye, pain and stiffness of the lower back. In case of emergency and no acupressure or acupuncture gadget is available around, use your fingernail and press on this acupoint obliquely towards the brain. In my case I always bring my Acupoint Treasure with electric pulse which is really intended for emergencies.

How I wish all my friends can read this so I won't hear any bad news anymore. By the way, the time of our friend's death yesterday was around 11:15 in the morning. I've told this friend one time to avoid activities between 11AM to 1PM because the heart is so active within these hours and can be prone to heart attack, and also to stop smoking! Anyway, we just learned he has a congenital enlarged heart. All we can do now is pray for him.

Jet Lag

It has been a very busy season and I haven't started researching for the nice things that can happen this year based on Feng Shui, so in the meantime, since there were a lot of people who spent Christmas in their hometowns, I thought it would we nice to share this very simple tip.

This tip teaches travelers to alleviate jet lag through an acupuncture point or acupoint called "LI4" or "Hegu" found at the joint intersection of the thumb and index fingers (please see illustration). While inside the plane, just press this point with the thumb of your other hand for 5 seconds, then while still pressing rotate clockwise for ten seconds, press for 5 seconds then rotate counterclockwise for 10 seconds. Repeat the cycle for one to three minutes and repeat the whole procedure after 4 hours. That balancing action will help you easily adjust to the timezone of another country. That is just the bonus of that action which mainly benefits the lungs (reduces cough and colds), eyes and many others. For fever, rotate counterclockwise because LI4 is a "yang" acupoint which is hot and moving, so to reduce or sedate, the "tonify" or clockwise action should be reversed.

A life saving chart

This is again the chart of the 5 elements in TCM, but it is not exactly the same as the one I published more than a month ago in this blog. I've manually written on the chart the relationships among the elements so anybody may readily refer to the chart after understanding some basic principles.

The elements are usually represented by the following YIN vital organs which are the solid organs (the YANG organs are hollow and have active movement in the hollow space like the small and large intestines):

1. FIRE (hot and upwards): Heart
2. EARTH (nurturing and nourishing): Spleen
3. METAL (contracting and descending): Lungs
4. WATER (cold and downwards): Kidney
5. WOOD (growing, expanding and straightening): Liver

The sequence from one element to another is very important so I thought the number before each element could help. Knowing the role of each element to the next element is also important:

1. WOOD YIELDS FIRE (without wood, fire will burn out)
2. FIRE GENERATES EARTH (fire creates ashes which can be used to nourish the earth)
3. EARTH PRODUCES METAL (metal is mined from the earth which helps it to form)
4. METAL GENERATES WATER (by acting as a conduit for water to move)
5. WATER PRODUCES WOOD (plants cannot live without water)

Another important basic principle is the CONTROLLING or RESTRAINING function of one element to a specific element:

1. WOOD controls the EARTH (Wood keeps the Earth in place).
2. EARTH controls the WATER (Earth acts like a sea wall or dam).
3. WATER controls the FIRE (Water prevents Fire from getting out of control by cooling it down).
4. FIRE controls the METAL (Fire moulds the Metal into shape).
5. METAL controls the WOOD (by cutting and shaping the Wood).

I am just a layman and at this point, I can't help but translate the 5 elements to the representing organs because I noticed that some very recent medical findings or even ongoing Western Medicine studies prove that there are such relationships which I feel we should all be aware of, to improve our lifestyles and prevent illnesses.

1. The LIVER supports the HEART and controls the SPLEEN.
2. The HEART supports the SPLEEN and controls the LUNGS.
3. The SPLEEN supports the LUNGS and controls the KIDNEY.
4. The LUNGS supports the KIDNEY and controls the LIVER.
5. The KIDNEY supports the LIVER and controls the HEART.

For example, if we have Hypertension (an illness originating from the HEART), we should take care of our LIVER and KIDNEY. Unfortunately, when we take medicines for hypertension, the LIVER and KIDNEY are gradually damaged. The best therefore, is change in lifestyle, so both the liver and kidney can eventually control the hypertension.

The emotions found in the chart can also affect our health as follows:

1. Anger or Depression => harms the LIVER
2. Overjoy or Upset => hurts the HEART
3. Over-thinking or Stress => drains the SPLEEN
4. Sadness or grief => damages the LUNGS
5. Worry or Fright => wear the KIDNEYS out

Now you know why the pants of your frightened friend got wet!

Holistic detoxification

I read this dozen ways to detoxify your personal environment from about.com and called it holistic detoxification because it also involves the mind, spirit and emotions. I'm republishing this for the people I care for.

1. Eat a balanced diet that emphasizes plant-based foods and minimizes animal products as well as refined sugars.

2. Boost your immune system by walking or exercising about 30 minutes a day.

3. Avoid air pollution, such as tobacco smoke and industrial fumes, whenever you can.

4. Walk or sit in the sun for at least 20 minutes a day, for a dose of Vitamin D.

5. Clean your indoor environment of toxins, using natural cleaners.

6. Air out any dry-cleaned clothing or fabrics before using them to minimize contact with PCE (Perchloroethylene) and TCE (Trichoroethylene).

7. Use natural insecticides and organic fertilizers in your garden.

8. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water everyday.

9. Cook food in glass, ceramic, iron, or steel containers instead of plastic made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

10. Choose skin products that contain no estrogens, placental components, phtalates, or parabens.

11. Resolve emotional issues, lower your stress levels, and surround yourself with positive, supportive people to make your body a stronger, less hospitable field in which cancer may grow.

12. Set aside regular time to relax, write a journal, meditate, or pray, away from all of your electronic devices. Reconnect with your true self and clear your mind and spirit.

The Mother of Lungs

Based on TCM, the spleen is a vital organ and is the mother of lungs. The spleen filters the air to transport only pure air up to the lungs and transports impure air down to the stomach. However, there are times the spleen couldn't function well when exposed to outside factors like cold drinks or very cool environment. That is why we catch a cold when we're outside in the cold, and why hot chicken soup is good for colds. The hot temperature will help the spleen recover, so even just drinking hot water (one part hot water, one part tap water) will do the same good job.

The spleen is important to the lungs, so it should be taken cared of. Too much thinking will also affect the spleen. Coupled with sadness or grief, sooner or later, you'll hear that grieving person coughing. Grieving for any loss, whether material thing or a loved one will affect the lungs.

Eating spicy foods moderately will also help the lungs. The spleen likes sweet foods, but too much sweets will also harm the spleen. That is how holistic TCM is, each vital organ has a mother or a son, can control another organ and be controlled by another organ, is affected by emotions and even by the tastes of food.

Sunlight

It seems that in the past, nobody had thought that God will provide to mankind a very easy way to prevent or solve most health problems. In fact, that solution was enforced to mankind because all a person has to do is to get out of the house and stay outdoors for a few minutes while there is sun.

People are aware now that sunlight can stimulate the body to produce Vitamin D. I learned that from my first years in school. But for more than a half of my lifetime, assuming I will live till age 80, I feared the sun. Part of those years, was mainly because I feared cancer. I was not aware that it's also exposure to sunlight that is the best prevention for breast cancer. Other cancers can be prevented as well, like prostate cancer which most men feared, colon cancer and rectal cancer. When a cyst was found in my ovary, I saw to it that it will not stay in my ovary for more than 5 years so it became my main reason to undergo total hysterectomy. I had no idea that just 15-30 minutes stay under the sun everyday can stimulate the production of Vitamin D which can inhibit the growth of my cyst and prevent it from becoming cancerous. More benefits can be derived from sunlight and here's a summary:

=> Reduces stress, anxiety/tension, depression and migraines
=> Reduces fatigue, sleep disturbances and sleep disorders
=> Reduces alcohol and food cravings
=> Reduces violence and aggression
=> Lowers cholesterol levels, blood pressure
=> Improves alertness, energy and productivity
=> Increases calcium absorption
=> Improves immune system function and cardiac output
=> Improves concentration, academic performance and visual acuity

The best time under the sun to stimulate production of Vitamin D is 9 A.M. to 10 A.M. Avoid staying under the sun between 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. which is the horary time for the heart because in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), the heart represents fire and might overact during peak hot hours.