Herbal soup fights flu A, perhaps useful to guard off swine flu too?

CM NEWS – Swine flu outbreak has scared the world recently, with death toll reaching 100 and counting. While scientists are racing to understand the flu and in full effort to formulate a new vaccine against it, the only things ordinary folks like us can do is to keep ourselves healthy and strong to guard off infection. In traditional Asian medicine, a decoction called Ma Huang Tang (麻黃湯) in Chinese or Mao-to in Japanese.

What’re in Ma Huang Tang?

The main ingredients of Ma Huang Tang are:


In a Japanese study conducted to evaluate the effect of oral Mao-to (麻黃湯) administration in children with type A influenza, the Mao-to powder was more effective in controlling fever due to flu A than administering an antiviral drug commonly used to fight flu A, Oseltamivir, alone.

What is Oseltamivir? Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug that is used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus B infection. Like zanamivir, oseltamivir is a neuraminidase inhibitor. It acts as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase, preventing progeny virions from emerging from infected cells.

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In the Japanese study, the scientists performed a controlled trial of 60 children, from 5 months through 13 years of age, with fever and influenza-like symptom of up to 48 h duration. Patients assigned into the following 3 groups: oral Mao-to powder 0.06 g/kg body wt. three times daily; Oseltamivir 2 mg/kg body wt. dose twice daily; or both oral Mao-to plus Oseltamivir.

The results indicated that the median duration of fever after treatment was significantly shorter in the Mao-to and Mao-to plus Oseltamivir groups, compared with the Oseltamivir only group. It was thus concluded by the scientists that oral Mao-to administration was effective in the control of fever due to type A influenza infection in children.

The Wonderful Avocado

I have to admit, until the past few months, the only times I’d really have avocados around the house was when I was making guacamole. But in these past few months, I’ve loved adding them to my brown rice, salads, and most any other dish that I make, or even just eating some slices on the side to help keep me full and satisfied. Once you get the hang of getting them to just the right ripeness, you’ll get hooked on these amazing little “fruits”.  Not to mention, you’ll love the health benefits they give, and the flavor you enjoy when you eat them, although you may not know that eating them gives you these benefits, rest assured that even though they are a relatively high fat piece of produce, they are good for the body when eaten in the right amount.

One of the first nutrients that avocados possess that are mega important is omega 3 monosaturated fat.  It is one of the only things in the produce section that you will get this from. For this reason, avocados are immensely popular with the vegan and vegetarian crowd since the only other real source they can get these from are flax seeds and various types of nuts.  They have about 5 grams of monosaturated fat per serving, which may seem like a lot for produce, and some dieters may shy away from them for this reason, but the benefits far outweigh this minor fact, and actually when eaten in moderation, avocados have properties that may aid someone who is trying to lose weight.

One important thing they do help with is keeping you feeling full and satisfied. This is due to the fiber and omega 3 monosaturated fat content. Because you’re fuller longer, you won’t eat as much.  In fact, high avocado consumption has been shown to lower the blood serum levels of cholesterol, which is excellent for those that suffer high cholesterol and have a hard time keeping it  in check.  They are also an excellent food for those who suffer from hair loss, as they are high in vitamin E, a vitamin that helps regrow healthy hair.  To add to that, they also contain zinc, another important building block for hair growth, vitamin C, and folate, all awesome additions to the diet for hair loss.

Avocados actually contain more potassium than a banana, in fact, over fifty percent more than a banana, which is something I did not know until now. They are also high in the powerful B vitamins, so they are great for giving you energy boosts, and are one of the few produce items that offer you vitamin E AND vitamin K.  They also happen to have the highest fiber content of any other fruit.  Yes, they are considered a fruit, I know, they seem more like a vegetable, kind of like the whole tomato thing, that always throws me off. Only downside is they may make you gassy if you eat too much, but hey, that can always be rectified with a little Beano!

Benefits of a Dairy Free Diet

I’ve always marveled at those people who could pull off a vegan diet with no problems at all.  Argh, how much I would miss one of my favorite foods, cheese if I were to convert to a vegan diet!  I know, I know that there are supposedly “cheese substitutes” out there like rice and soy cheese, but really, are these a substitute for the real texture and taste of a good, wholesome cheese?  Granted, most cheese is not all that healthy for you, especially if it’s not a reduced fat variety, but they sure do taste good once in a while, and cheese just adds that finishing touch to so many meals.

Not to mention other dairy foods that are an all American staple like milk in your cereal, ice cream and other dairy desserts, eggs, cream, and other delectable creamy rich foods.  Of course, the reason that most dairy isn’t so good for you is because of it’s fat content. Not only that, but some people assert that we as humans were not really physiologically meant to keep eating dairy products of any sort past a certain age, as our body supposedly stops producing the enzyme necessary to digest dairy properly after that age.  That’s all a theory, but there are some things that point to this theory being possibly true.

One of those things is that dairy products cause an allergic type reaction in a lot of people who eat them.   This may not be by mistake that this happens either.  A lot of people suffer from some form of lactose intolerance, which means that eating anything with lactose (most dairy products, unless they are products that have the lactose removed or have digestive aids added to them like the Lactaid products at the store), makes you uncomfortable digestively speaking.

It may give you gas or sharp pains, or it may also cause an almost allergic reaction of sorts.  Some people may even experience a mental fog after eating dairy, and those people should definitely avoid it.  Dairy actually is hard on your digestive system, especially if it is a very fatty dairy variet such as full fat ice cream or cheese, and for this reason a lot of health experts recommend completely avoiding this area of the food group.

A lot of people think that dairy is necessary, especially for women, because of the calcium content it passes through the body to help strengthen the bones and teeth, but the truth is that calcium is available in many other natural foods, and also is available in several high quality calcium supplements, so the consumption of dairy is not totally necessary.  Some people even credit a clearer complexion, as in less acne, with banning dairy products from their daily menu.

Whatever the results you’re looking for, you may do well to try out a dairy free diet for a while, just to see if it benefits you in any of these ways.  After all, what could it hurt?

A Great Alkaline Meal Idea

I’ve talked a little bit before about how I was really getting into the idea of eating an alkaline diet and the alkine ionized water and how these can improve your quality of life.  Well, I’ve started to try to incorporate more alkaline rather than acid foods into my diet to see if it really can make a big difference in how I feel, what my level of health is, and certain health issues I’ve suffered with suchs as allergies and asthma and acne my whole life on and off.  So far, I do think that it helps with all of that, but I admit I haven’t stuck to it all the time either.  I haven’t yet purchased by alkaline ionized water machine yet as I’m still shopping around, so of course I’ll have more on that for you as well when I do buy it.

One of my favorite meals so far which I believe from what I’ve read thus far is one that involves brown rice and two alkaline veggies.  The tomatoes aren’t the most alkaline veggie, since mostly the dark leafy greens and other green veggies are supposed to be the best for that, but they are ok and are not highly acid producing as long as they are not cooked and are eaten fresh, so I figured it was ok to incorporate them into this little recipe of mine.

Here it is.  It’s brown basmati rice, cooked in vegetable stock with no preservatives or sugar in it and a variety of spice such as sage and cumin mixed in.  I also added organic wild rice to the mix for a little more texture and that awesome extra nutty flavor that pure wild rice adds to your rice dish.  I had read that brown basmatic rice was ok, but regular brown rice wasn’t, and that wild rice was ok as well so I assume those are both all right to eat.

Once the rice is done cooking, I cut up about a fourth of an avocado (a very alkaline vegetable) into small pieces, and also about a fourth of a fresh tomato into small cubes and topped the rice with that as well as a little sea salt.  Sea salt is preferred over regular table salt on the alkaline diet, and I prefer it’s flavor anyways, so that was just an added bonus. I am hooked on this recipe, it’s so flavorful and completely meat free, plus I don’t feel any discomfort even after eating a fairly large plate of it, and it gives me lots of energy.  A great alkaline recipe!

As I mentioned earlier, I’m very excited to bring to you soon a review of whatever alkaline ionized water machine I end up with.  So stay tuned folks!

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