How to check if you’re improving your blood circulation?

How to check if you’re improving your blood circulation?

HOW TO CHECK IF YOU’RE IMPROVING BLOOD CIRCULATION?

I’m always curious about metrics and measuring success or at least measuring progress.  What started as an initial recommendation from my Chinese doctor to do foot soaks to improve circulation, turned into a full blown experiment on my end.  I truly wanted to see if this was working!  And so I applied some learning from my Engineering background and took a stab at testing this theory.  It’s not an exact science and was something fun to try!

One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist in each other.  Our bodies, minds, and souls are designed the same way in that to be healthy, we need to be in harmony between these 2 bipolar states.  Yin is receptive and passive, calm and slow, embodying cold and damp qualities (when we are sleeping).  Yang is its exact opposite in aggressive and active, embodying heat, dryness, and movement (when we are awake).

One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring these principles into the foods and drinks we consume in order to support harmony.

Why is blood circulation important to TCM?

Blood is a vital substance that circulates the in the vessels and carries nutrition throughout the body.  It is important in maintaining vital activities in the body, including nourishing and moisturizing it.

The circulation of blood relies on the pushing function of the qi.  This is why it’s equally important to have strong qi.  Blood and qi are like interconnected and interdependent.  Qi is the motivating source for the circulation of blood.

The better your blood circulates:

  • The more moisture and nourishments that travels to your organs, tissues, body, limbs, and mind continuously.
  • The more distributed our qi is because blood is the carrier of qi.  If our blood becomes collapsed and stagnant, so will our qi.
  • The more vigorous and lively we are because blood also carries oxygen.
  • The easier it is to stay warm (as body energy and warmth is generated from qi) and maintain good body function.

 

How to do a foot soak

The most basic is to simply soak your feet in warm water.  What my own Chinese doctor has suggested is to soak it until you break a sweat from your forehead.  At this point, you’ll know that the warm blood has worked it’s way up throughout your body enough to literally – break a sweat!

I was curious about testing time, so I’ve structured my foot soaks quite scientifically, but you don’t have to.  You can just soak until you feel that sweat and finish up.

What you’ll need:

  • A consistent source of hot (or warm) water
  • A comfortable place to sit
  • Some water (or drinks) to stay hydrated
  • A book or something to occupy your time
  • A towel (to dry off with afterwards)
  • A change of clothes or sweater (as you’re sweating, you’ll want to cool off gently)

If you’re testing time, add in:

  • A timer

Try foot soaks once a week!  It’s a great time to meditate and spend some “ME” time.

Ever wonder why you do a hot foot soak before you get a foot massage (in most Chinese spas)?

Click on the video below to hear about how I turned this concept into more of a science experiment (for myself) and how I knew I was improving my blood circulation.  A highly fascinating thing to try!

 

The teas and soups I drank to improve blood circulation

To improve blood circulation, there are a few soups or teas you can consider making to help you with this.  Keep in mind, the key principles and things to note are:

  • We want to encourage a more yang state in the body, which means more active and flowing 
  • To generate yang states, this is generally associated with consumption of warmer soups and teas (see below for the ones I was consuming)
  • If you’re feeling too heaty (excess yang), you can hold off on the warming ingredients and go with the neutral ones for improve circulation (or reducing stagnant blood)

 

Warming ingredients to help with blood circulation:

 

Neutral ingredients to help with blood circulation:

 

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How to Prepare for Sleep (with TCM Concepts)

How to Prepare for Sleep (with TCM Concepts)

HOW TO PREPARE FOR SLEEP

(USING TCM CONCEPTS)

Learn to prepare for better sleep and how you can transition your body and mind from a yang to a yin state as evenings nears and you’re preparing to go to bed. Learn some simply Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts and how to apply this to your lifestyle and life to create a healthier and more balanced life!

One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist in each other.  Our bodies, minds, and souls are designed the same way in that to be healthy, we need to be in harmony between these 2 bipolar states.  Yin is receptive and passive, calm and slow, embodying cold and damp qualities (when we are sleeping).  Yang is its exact opposite in aggressive and active, embodying heat, dryness, and movement (when we are awake).

One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring these principles into the foods and drinks we consume in order to support harmony.

 

How to use this guide:

 

  • Some tips and tricks to help replenish yin and increase yin while yang recedes as part of our evening and sleep routines.
  • Do see a Chinese medicine practitioner as this information is not a replacement for a doctor.

 

Some applied TCM concepts to help:

  • Avoid yang enhancing (or warming) foods right before sleeping. This includes: spicy and fried foods, caffeine, herbs such as garlic and ginger, dong quai, or red dates. These foods increase yang and get your blood flowing, which is not what we want!
  • Allow the body and mind to come into a yin state. This means being in that calm, steady, slower flow so that it can really slow down. Don’t exercise before sleep or this heightens the yang in your body. If your mind is very active, like you’ve just had an argument, you were studying, or doing some work, spend some time to help it transition into a yin state by doing some meditating, breathing, counting sheep (now we know why we count sheep!), or anything to slow down the yin in the mind is helpful.
  • Reduce the temperature to allow for our body to transition into yin as yang recedes. As Yin is the cooler, slower state, a lower thermostat will allow our body to be in more yin and supporting deeper sleep.  Read more here on “Using TCM concepts in our every day lives“.

 

For more videos, visit us on YouTube.

For further reading, I’ve found some more scientific and published articles.  Here are some to read up on: 

 

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Tips and Tricks for Making Amazing Chinese Soups

Tips and Tricks for Making Amazing Chinese Soups

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING AMAZING CHINESE SOUPS

There are so many little tips and tricks in the school of Chinese soup making that it’s incredible!  And, it seems that different regions in China also have different tips and tricks!  I love how there’s a wealth of knowledge out there waiting to be captured, shared, and loved by the next generation and by those who love making and drinking Chinese soups!

If you have any more tips and tricks, please share!  It’s always a wonder to learn these!

There’s no right or wrong in how to make Chinese soups.  The simple act of bringing together raw and dried ingredients to create a concoction of love to share with our friends and family is highly rewarding!

One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring our love of Chinese soups to the world!

Here are a few videos on HOW-TO prepare certain ingredients:

 

There are so many interesting and unique ingredients that we see in the herbal stores, the specialty stores, and from our own Chinese doctors or at the wet mart.  I’ve often wondered, what is that?  Why do Chinese people eat it?  How do I even prepare it?  Along my journey, it was really speaking to so many people, being curious, and trying that I’ve figured it out!  I’m sure there are other ways to prepare it, I’ve heard a few techniques, so definitely try and see which one works for you!

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Using TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Concepts for Chinese Soups

Using TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Concepts for Chinese Soups

AN INTRODUCTION to YIN and YANG in OUR EVERYDAY SOUPS AND FOOD

Yes, that ever so common Cantonese phrase “yeet hay”!  Well, did you know, that yeet hay actually means, excess yang?  Although sometimes, it could be mistaken as yin deficiency.  And there are actually conditions that show through our body that can help us identify whether we’re excess yin or yan (or deficient) and you can plan soups or teas (and food) around these conditions to help bring yourself back into balance!

One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist in each other.  Our bodies, minds, and souls are designed the same way in that to be healthy, we need to be in harmony between these 2 bipolar states.  Yin is receptive and passive, calm and slow, embodying cold and damp qualities (when we are sleeping).  Yang is its exact opposite in aggressive and active, embodying heat, dryness, and movement (when we are awake).

One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring these principles into the foods and drinks we consume in order to support harmony.  

How to use this guide:

  • This is a broad view of how symptoms show up in yin and yang states.  While the tongue is one indicator, from a TCM perspective, it is usually combined with other factors such as skin color, tone of voice, pulse strength, how a patient walks in, or how the bodily fluids are functioning.
  • Do see a Chinese medicine practitioner as this information is not a replacement for a doctor.

 

Examples:

  • My tongue is pink (not red, but not pale) and has a wet, yellow-white coating.  My mouth has been feeling super dry and like I am always thirsty, and I’ve got some painful canker sores developed.  My initial read is that I have too much excess yang, likely due to diet over the past few days (which consisted of Korean fried chicken and hot pot), so I made myself something cooling, helps reduce heat in the body and clear that excess yang, and yet nourishing and moisturizes my body (honey and rock sugar are great ingredients here!).  I made a simple chrysanthemum honey tea and a dried honeysuckle honey tea to replace my English breakfast in the mornings and a delicious roasted pork and watercress soup for the family.
  • It is coming into winter and these chapped lips and dry chafing hands are a good indicator that I could use some qi replenishing support.  This is usually the case when it becomes cold, windy, and we are in the deep of winter!  If I don’t feel to heaty, I will often make myself a qi replenishing tea with red dates, longans, and dried goji berries.  Red dates are the best for this, so I will often add this to soups such as a black silkie chicken herbal soup
  • As I’m getting older, I find my limbs become cold quite often, especially since moving back to Canada and I always want to drink hot drinks.  The tongue is wet (not dry), so a good indicator that I have good fluid balance in the body.  If no other immediate illness symptoms exist (such as a cough or headache), I’ll slowly improve my overall Qi with simple red dates teas. or with hawthorn as a tea.  When your overall Qi is strong, blood is flowing nicely through the body and it’s able to distribute nutrition and heat to every part of it.  My own TCM doctor has suggested to try HOT foot baths regularly to get that blood and Qi flowing as well.  One interesting experiment is to do this and time it.  How long does it take for you to break a sweat?  The first time took me 20 minutes!  The more you do this with HOT foot baths and supplement with Qi replenishing foods and drinks, this “breaking sweat” time should come down, which means your blood circulation (and Qi) are improving!  Will share another post on this shortly of my full experience!

     

    For more videos, visit us on YouTube.

    The great thing about understanding how yin and yang is balanced is that this also pairs with the cooking styles of Chinese soups!

    You can follow this post on “How Different Styles of Chinese Soups are Made“.

     

    For further reading, I’ve found some more scientific and published articles.  Here are some to read up on: 

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    Healing Chinese Herbal Soup

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    FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

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    Your guide to COOLING and WARMING ingredients in Chinese Soups

    Your guide to COOLING and WARMING ingredients in Chinese Soups

    Your guide to COOLING and WARMING ingredients in Chinese Soups

    Did your parents or grandparents ever tell you that you’re too “yeet hay” (heaty) and would make you a cooling soup or tea or drink, such as watercress soup or winter melon and then go on to explain that it was good for you and would help with your heaty body?  This was me!  And you grew up understanding this term called “yeet hay”, but it wasn’t easily translatable in English, but yet… you know.  And now it comes back in full circle, understanding the principles in Traditional Chinese medicine, why there’s this re-balance in our diets!

    One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist in each other.  Our bodies, minds, and souls are designed the same way in that to be healthy, we need to be in harmony between these 2 bipolar states.  Yin is receptive and passive, calm and slow, embodying cold and damp qualities (when we are sleeping).  Yang is its exact opposite in aggressive and active, embodying heat, dryness, and movement (when we are awake).

    One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring these principles into the foods and drinks we consume in order to support harmony.  

    How to use this guide:

    • This is purely a reference guide on what to consider as your soup ingredients
    • Most Chinese soups have a combination of protein, vegetables or roots, and some simple herbs (such as dried longans or dried red dates)
    • It’s not as easy as a mix and match!  Although I wish it were.  I would really suggest doing some research on the combinations available, such as existing recipes out there or ask friends and family.
    • Do consult a physician if you’re unsure of your health and what to consume

     

    The great thing about understanding how yin and yang is balanced is that this also pairs with the cooking styles of Chinese soups!

    You can follow this post on “How Different Styles of Chinese Soups are Made“.

     

     

    For more videos, visit us on YouTube.

    Tips and examples:

    • Consider the complimentary tastes of ingredients (it’s not really a mix and match at random!).  There are pairings that have worked for the TCM principles above such as balancing yin and yang.
    • For example, the Cantonese dessert of silky tofu pudding (tofu fa) is usually combined with a ginger brown syrup.  This is because the tofu is highly cooling and the ginger will offset that.
    • For example, winter melon is best combined with pork rather than chicken (although I have tried that) to maintain the cooling effects of the soup.  Winter melon is promoted as a summer soup for this very reason, so making it with warmer protein will reduce that effectiveness.
    •  The external environment also has an impact to your yin and yang balance.  In the winter, we nourish the yang more to stay warm and in the spring, we want to reduce the yin to dispel moisture from the body.
    • For example, chicken soups and especially double-boiled soups are recommended in the winter to keep us warm.  Ginger is a great add to soups, including dried longans, which are all warming.  The same applies to summer and hot weather where the Chinese lean towards watercress, gourds, and melon soups.
    • Our internal state is probably the most important in determining which soup to make and how this principle helps.
    • For example, postpartum is an important moment for women in recovering their balance for the long term.  In postpartum, the body is in need of yang nourishment due to blood and fluid loss of childbirth.  This is why all the foods, soups, and teas created for confinement are hot or warming and tend to be packed full of ginger.
    • For example, the scratchy, bumpy, and inflamed tongue is a great example of too much heat (or yang) in our bodies.  This is common when we have lack of sleep (remember how yang is active) or eat too much fried food (another source of heat into our bodies), so having cooling teas or soups will help relieve the excess yang.

     

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    Healing Chinese Herbal Soup

    Soup Name: Healing Chinese Herbal Soup Traditional Chinese Name: 北芪黨參消腫養陰湯 (běi qí dǎngshēn xiāo zhǒng yǎng yīn tāng) For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.This soup is perfect for anyone who wants to replenish and strengthen blood and qi, has poor...

    Simple Roasted Chicken Congee

    Soup Name: Roasted (leftover) Chicken Congee Traditional Chinese Name: 烤雞粥 (kǎo jī zhōu) What’s the Best Chinese Comfort Food? Hot Homemade Congee!When it comes to leftovers, congee with meats is the ultimate!  The best are with left over roasted chicken (even Costco...

    Pu’er Chinese Tea: A Traditional Chinese Medicinal Perspective

    A PU'ER Chinese (TEA) LOVE STORYChinese pu'er tea:  Why I love it! As part of my overall health regime.One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces...

    A Quick Dinner Macaroni in Vegetable Soup

    Soup Name: Macaroni in a quick boil vegetable soup (a quickie dinner) Traditional Chinese Name: 雜菜湯 (zá cài tāng) This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste. For more videos on soups and teas, you can follow us on YouTube.   This is one of our families'...

    ABC Chinese Soup (with a Fancy Lobster Soup Base)

    Soup Name: ABC Chinese Soup (using a Lobster Base Soup) Traditional Chinese Name: ABC湯 (ABC tāng).  The easiest name in the Cantonese repertoire for ABC vegetable soup is 雜菜湯 (zá cài tāng), which literally translates to mixed vegetable soup. This soup is warming in...

    Healing Chinese Herbal Soup

    Soup Name: Healing Chinese Herbal Soup Traditional Chinese Name: 北芪黨參消腫養陰湯 (běi qí dǎngshēn xiāo zhǒng yǎng yīn tāng) For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.This soup is perfect for anyone who wants to replenish and strengthen blood and qi, has poor...

    Simple Roasted Chicken Congee

    Soup Name: Roasted (leftover) Chicken Congee Traditional Chinese Name: 烤雞粥 (kǎo jī zhōu) What’s the Best Chinese Comfort Food? Hot Homemade Congee!When it comes to leftovers, congee with meats is the ultimate!  The best are with left over roasted chicken (even Costco...

    Chinese Herbal Soup with Abalone

    Soup Name: Chicken Herbal Soup with Abalone  Traditional Chinese Name: 鮑魚清雞湯 (bào yú qīng jī tāng) This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste. Visit us on YouTube for more tea and soup videos.One of my favourite basic chicken Chinese soups - ever!  And it's...

    Sweet Rice Cakes for Chinese New Year’s!

    Happy Chinese New Year's!! Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy, and beautiful year of the rabbit!! As a tradition, the Chinese will eat what's called "New Year's Cake".  It's basically sweetened rice and glutinous rice flour pan fried until soft and...

    Cooling and Calming Chrysanthemum and Roselle (Hibiscus) Honey Tea

    Tea Name: Chrysanthemum and Roselle (Hibiscus) Honey Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 菊花茶 (jú huā chá) This tea is sweet and sour to taste and cooling in nature.Visit us on YouTube for more tea and soup videos.Taking a moment?  Want something calming and soothing?  Try...

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