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B. How can the
body stop retaining water?
An overweight person has two
enemies in the body: phlegm and dampness. One important thing is to
get rid of those enemies and the other is to keep them out of the
body. A useful concept to keep in mind is the concept of fire ?o.
Fire gets rid of dampness and phlegm by burning them. So fire is used
in the treatment, particularly with the kidney's fire, which refers
to kidney-yang.
Increase the
Burning Fire of the Kidneys
Increasing the burning fire of the kidneys will help in the
maintenance of correct body weight.
Foods called yang tonics can increase
the burning fire of the kidneys. In TCM, there are four basic tonics:
energy tonics, blood tonics, yin tonics (strengthens the fluids) and
yang tonics. (A tonic is something that strengthens.)
- Animals'
kidneys are highly recommended yang tonics. Eating kidneys
(pork, beef, lamb or chicken) have 3 advantages:
- They have little fat
- They are easily digested
- They tone up the kidney's function
Preparing
kidneys to eat
First cut the kidneys in half, remove the unwanted white parts and
wash it; bring water to the boil and add a little wine; drop in the
kidneys and simmer until fully cooked; drain and slice into small
pieces. Prepare a sauce with ginger, green onion, green pepper, soy
sauce, sugar, sesame oil and vinegar. Pour the sauce over the kidneys
and they are ready to eat.
- Liver
(Chicken, pork and beef) is the second food recommended as a
yang tonic to increase the burning fire of the kidneys. Fry the
liver very quickly in vegetable oil with condiments such as
ginger, garlic, or celery; use black pepper and wine as
seasonings.
- Fruits
and vegetables such as dried green raspberry, cherry, yam,
walnut, leeks, black beans and bitter gourd seed may also be
used as yang tonics.
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Fruits and vegetables that benefit the kidney yang:
red dates cherry, garlic chives and black beans
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C.
Functional Food Recipes
Here are some recipes that
ventilate and smooth the lungs and resolve phlegm, invigorate the
spleen, remove dampness through diuresis (urination) warm the
kidneys in order to relieve water retention.
- Fried Crown daisy Chrysanthemum and Radish
Therapeutic
benefit: Removing fluid stagnation and clearing away
phlegm-heat
Method:
Wash 200g of white radish, 100g of crown daisy chrysanthemum, and
cut into strips. Pour 100g of oil into a pot. When the oil is hot,
add wild pepper. When the wild pepper turns black, remove it, and
then add the radish strips. Add a little chicken soup until almost
tender; then add the crown daisy chrysanthemum. Add salt to taste,
mix in starch when the dish is done and pour a little sesame oil
over it. Remove from heat and serve.
- Fried Mutton with Wild pepper and Onions
Therapeutic
benefit: Warming kidney-yang
Method:
Pour 50g of peanut oil into a pot, and heat over a flame. Add a
little wild pepper, 200g mutton shreds, 10g ginger shreds, 100g
onions, and fry. Add salt, seasoning powder, vinegar and yellow
wine to taste
- Weight Reducing Wine
Therapeutic
benefit: Tonifying the spleen and expelling dampness
Method:
Prepare and wash 1000g polished glutinous rice, 150g Job's tears,
50g lotus seeds powder, 100g Chinese yam powder, 50g Gordon Euryale
seed (qian shi), 50g Indian bread. Mix well and put into a large
vessel and add some water. Steam for one hour, cool and soak with
baking wine until all the ingredients are covered and then seal the
cover properly. Place the vessel in a warm place (25° Centigrade)
for 36 - 48 hours. Each time take one small cup, twice daily.
- Soup of Lotus Leaf and Hawthorn
Therapeutic benefit:
Promoting digestion and expelling dampness
Methods:
Take lotus leaf 9g and hawthorn 9g (hawthorn should be broken up
and stir-fried), 2 cups of water, decoct into 1 cup of soup. For
simple obesity, it is suitable to drink frequently.
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 Dried lotus leaf
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