How to Use Food and Herbs as Medicine
"let food by thy medicine by thy food"
- Hippocrates
When it comes down to it, food is our foundation. What you put in your body is what you get out of it. After all, food nourishes you. It provides balance and optimal functioning to your body and its systems.
My kitchen is my pharmacy and I purposely assemble my food as medicine.
Why? Because the way we can think about food is not food itself, but how our body responds and protects itself to it and this is what health is all about. Is it not? Ideally, you want to optimize your body with the best nutrients and energy possible. In turn, this also slows down the aging process contributing to a healthier and younger you- And that doesn't have to be the struggle it's often made out to be.
In the end, food is a source of pleasure, satisfaction, love, and community. It connects people. Most importantly, provides ample amount of opportunity for quality "family time."
Yet, I hear from my clients that they struggle with their health and energy levels- even when they're eating some of the best foods ( organic, locally grown) they can be.The'll choose organic or locally grown options. And then food fads come and go. You're told to eat this, then that. It gets confusing.
Luckily, it doesn't have to be. When you equip yourself with the right knowledge about food, you can use that wisdom to choose the right foods for you and your body.
Surprisingly, not all "good " foods work for every individual or every health condition. In fact, one person's food is another person's poison. The same goes for healing herbs. Not all herbs are good for all individuals.
Using food as medicine can help you navigate what foods work for you and what foods don't. By reading this guide, you are already well on your way to understanding and using food as your most powerful medicine.
Most importantly, it's critical to tune in to how much each food or plant substance affects you on an energetic and physiological level.This helps you understand what your body needs.And it doesn't stop there.
It's not only about knowing which foods to eat. It's also about choosing the right food preparation method. This way, your body is able to better absorb the key nutrients of each food.Consequently, your health improves and you lower your risk of life-threatening and chronic diseases.
You have the power in your kitchen right now. Choose your medicine wisely. Let your body guide you toward a healthier and happier you. It all starts with the most precious substance to survival and health- FOOD.
SOME COOKING TECHNIQUES
Raw
Is cooling, refreshing and hydrating.It lowers inflammation, improves digestion, more fiber, optimal liver function, preventing and treating constipation. And, in a healthy body brings energy.
Pickled food
When veggies and fruit are fermented, the natural sugar gets broken down. It is converted to lactic acid. This process is what gives fermented pickles that sour taste. The bacteria also known as probiotic, preserves food and have many healthy benefits to your body. The sour flavor nourishes the liver and tones the digestive system.
Steamed Food
Credited as being one of the healthier cooking techniques. It’s easy, convenient, and quick. All you need is some basic ingredients and is the most effective way to make the most of the nutrients present in the food and you don’t have to worry about some extra calories.
Sautéed food
These foods are warming and highly energized. Tender outside but still crispy inside. Some foods that enhance their nutrient uptake with this technique such as, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, pumpkin.
Stewed foods
Are very good if you are weak and don’t have a very strong digestive system, why? They are very easy to process, to digest for people with low hydrochloric acid.These foods are cooked for a long period of time, breaking down all cellulose, fiber, carbohydrates and proteins, making that food very tender and easy to digest. Deeply nourishing, and the ingredients are conserved. Economic in labor because they can be bulk cooked.
Backed food
these food is very warming. They cook inside an oven completely surrounded by dry heat. Great choice for people with running nose and cold.
How flavor affects our health
Sweet and salty
The two dominant dominant flavors in our diet, right? Sweet and salty are on everything, and both of them energize our system. In ancient medicine, sweet causes aches in the body, specially in the joints, and salty hardens the pulse, blood sugar goes up, heart beat goes up, leading to heart disease. But, we need these flavors, we just need to balance them. We need almost all the flavors in our diet.
Bitter flavor
That is in the kale is draining and reduces heat from the body and the liver.It lowers blood pressure.
Sour and fermented foods
The digestive system.
Sweet food
When you have low blood pressure and experience adrenal fatigue, you can go for sweet food such as roasted squash or meat. It has a building effect. With Liquorice root, you will feel energized.
Hydrating and cool food
But if you have heart problems and high blood pressure, have tons of salads, smoothies and fish. Hydrating and cool food to lower blood pressure.
Warm food
For frequent colds and poor immunity. It means your body is too cold internally and you’ll be susceptible to any virus that comes on your way. You want to warm up your body inside and move your blood. Cayenne, pepper, ginger, turmeric and garlic.
Astringents
Brain fog, means a damp condition, time to dry. Use astringents, tightens the tissues. Berries are amazing for this condition.
THE HEALING POWER OF HERBS AND SPICES
For an herb to be used as a true healing, we need to understand our body’s condition to make it really work. Preparation and cooking process. People all over the world always incorporated herbs and spices to cook and to heal.
If you have a cough and you’re using food as medicine, you immediately turn to thyme, that is an expectorant.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, wrote about the medical uses of thyme, coriander, cinnamon, mint, cumin, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, pepper.
Ancient practitioners of Taoism diligently used cooking to pursuit health, and their recipes included leaves, roots, stems, flowers, seeds, bark and fungi.
Confucius, would eat no meal that did not contain some ginger.
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS OF HERBS IN THE BODY
Beyond being used as culinary herbs, many wild plants have been used for healing a multitude of serious conditions. Each plant has its own properties and create different physiological reactions.Some examples:
ADAPTOGEN:
Helps the body adapt to a stress response.
ANTISPASMODIC:
Eases spasms or cramps in the muscles.
ALTERATIVE:
Improves the body’s metabolic process.
ANTICATARRHAL:
Eliminates excess mucus.
ANTI- INFLAMMATORY:
Soothes inflammation.
ANTIMICROBIAL:
Destroys pathogenic organisms.
ASTRINGENT:
Tightens the tissues.
BITTERS:
Trigger a sensory response in the CNS that sends a message to the gut.
DIAPHORETIC:
Opens the pores to make the organism sweat.
DEMULCENT:
Soothe inflamed and irritated tissues.
DIURETIC:
Aids the body in ridding/ eliminating excess fluids.
EXPECTORANT:
Stimulates the removal of mucus from the lungs.
HEPATIC:
Supports liver function and increases the flow of bile.
IMMUN:
Regulates the Immune system.
NERVINE:
Eases anxiety, relaxes and restores the nervous system.
SAME BASIC WAYS TO USE HERBS AS MEDICINE
INFUSION
A gentle liquid medicine, water, as a base.The teas made from a variety of herbs steeped for 5 to 10 minutes are good examples. Fill a tea pot with boiling water and steep your herb, keeping it covered to preserve the essential oils.The longer you steep, the stronger the infusion. You could also infuse for much longer periods of time, even overnight such as wild Hawthorne or hearty roots such as burdock or licorice.
DECOCTION
A decoction is the process of extracting the essence of something by boiling or heating, then simmering for a long period. This is different from an infusion because you are boiling the plants continually to draw out their healing constituents. For example, medicinal mushrooms such as relishing, chaga and barks such as wild berry and cinnamon that require a 3-4 hour decoction to be most effective. A bone stock can also be considered a decoction.
EXTRACTION
You can use , vinegar, or vegetable glycerin to draw out the healing properties from a plant. A good example is apple cider herbal vinegar. Rosemary, thyme, basil, dill, oregano can be used fresh and steep in ACV for 30 days. Strain the herb from the vinegar and discard. Use the vinegar in salad dressings or mix with honey.
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