Lately, I am exhausted.
I know it's because of work. I
have deadlines to meet and the network keeps having issues. It’s always one thing after another, and all
you ended up is helping others, but yet you don’t have enough time to do your
own projects. Sometimes, I just crash
when I get home until it’s time for dinner. Last week, I even took a Friday off
so I can have a three days weekend just to rest, but it did not seem to help. I know I need to fix this before it gets
worse. Therefore, I decided to make
Chinese herbal soup today. My Dad had
shown me how to make Chinese Herbal soup in the past. And I have all the ingredients, but I have never had time to do it. According to
my Dad, if you have one bowl of this soup, you can kill three tigers with your bare
hands. :-) I know he exaggerates a bit but, I can tell you this. After I had one
bowl of this soup, I am energized! :-)
I had this bowl for breakfast this morning. It sure warmed up my whole body and now I feel like an energized bunny!!! LOL :-)
The basic tonic soups can made from a combination of red
dates, astragalus, dried goji berries, ginseng, and dang gui. This will help to improve immunity, strengthen the body and prevent
relapses. Since my Dad gave me many ingredients, I put the following combination in my pot. The goal is to nourish my weak point and strengthen my health and give me more energy.
Chinese wolfberries or goji berries (gou ji zi)
Effects: Nourishes and tonifies the liver and kidney, helps eyesight, improves blurred vision, alleviates sore back, strengthens the leg and stomach, improves circulation, boosts immune function, promotes longevity. It is used for treatment of general weakness and impotence.
Effects :
Treatment
of Qi deficiency, spleen deficiency and Yang deficiency, weakness and fatigue,
numbness of limb, morbidity after stroke, sweating, treatment of diabetes,
promotes pus discharge and tissue regeneration, promotes diuresis to reduce
edema.
Effects: Tonic for blood and
for regulating the menses, lubricates bowels to correct constipation, reduces
swelling, expels pus, relieves pain.
Effects : strengthen the
functions of heart and lung, nourish stomach and spleen, increase blood flow
and oxygen to the brain to improve memory and promote clear thinking. Red dates are known to
be effective in countering fatigue, anaemia and low energy. They are commonly
used for building up strength and blood.
Dang shen (Codonopsitis
Pilosulae)
Effects: cure appetite loss,
strengthen the immune system and replenish qi. Corrects blood
deficiency, invigorates Qi (lack of appetite, fatigue, thirst, diarrhea,
vomiting, polapse of uterus, stomach, rectum due to spleen deficient), improves
digestive system.
Ginseng (ren sheng)
Effects : replenishing the primordial qi, restoring
pulse and treating collapse, tonifying the spleen and lung, promoting the
production of body fluid to quench thirst, tranquilizing the mind and improving
mental power.
Radix astragalis (huang qi)
Effects: tonifying the qi, lifting the sunken yang,
strengthening the defensive energy and superficial resistance, promoting pus
discharge and tissue regeneration, and tissue regeneration, and inducing
diuresis to cure edema.
Chinese pearl barley or Coix seeds (yi mi)
Effects: anti-swelling,
pus-expelling and cooling. It is therefore most commonly recommended to people
suffering from stiff and painful joints.
Lotus seeds
Effects: lotus
seeds are believed in Chinese medicine to "clear heat" (清熱) and
be particularly nutritious and restorative to one's health, which may explain
the prevalence of their use in Chinese cuisine.
Dried Longan
Effects: In
Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on
relaxation. In Chinese medicine the longan, much like the lychee, is considered
a "warm" fruit.
