Nutrition For Your Blood

By Kathy O′Hare

In martial arts it′s very important to support your body′s ability to produce and move blood because it will give you energy, flexibility in your joints, and nutrition to keep your ligaments and tendons strong.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is said that blood is the mother of qi and qi is the commander of blood. What that means is that you need enough blood in the body to produce energy (qi) and it′s important to keep the qi moving so that the blood doesn′t become stagnant. When the blood becomes stagnant, you develop pain and depletion of blood. In yin/yang theory, blood is considered yin and qi is considered yang, so we again see the significance of the relationship between these two energies and the harmony that you want to achieve in everyday living.

There are many ways to achieve a good balance of blood in your body. In terms of nutrition, you want to focus on foods that help to strengthen both the spleen and kidney meridians. The spleen is the organ responsible for taking the essence out of the food and turning it into energy, and the kidney provides the fire of digestion. In Chinese medicine, cold and damp foods deplete the spleen, so you want to avoid raw, frozen foods, dairy and sugar, excess salt, and excess fats. Our western diet of sweet and oily foods creates dampness and can contribute to a number of health issues. Other foods to avoid in large quantities include nuts, alcohol, coffee, colas, chocolate, and foods from the nightshade family (tomato, potato, eggplant, bell pepper) as they also contribute to damp conditions. Eating fresh vegetables that are sautéed with a small amount of oil along with lean, organic meats and fresh whole grains will support the strength of the spleen. Author Henry C. Lu writes in Chinese System of Food Cures that foods that specifically produce blood include beets and their greens, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, adzuki bean, seaweed, beef and chicken.

The other important organ to support is the liver. The liver is called the "Great Regulator" and its function in Chinese medicine is to move qi and blood. When the liver becomes disharmonized, the blood becomes stagnant and doesn′t flow smoothly through the body. This can contribute to pain in the joints, lack of flexibility, women′s disorders (premenstrual syndrome, infertility, tumors, and cysts), fatigue, and depletion. Author Bob Flaws writes in Prince Wen Hui′s Cook that foods that help move the liver qi include beef and chicken liver, black sesame, green leafy vegetables, celery, green onion, kelp, mulberry, mussel, nori and plum. Overuse of warming spices and pungent foods (onions, garlic, pepper) can create too much heat in the body, so they should be used sparingly.

For more information and recipes, read Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac, and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac, OMD, and Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, by Paul Pitchford.

Kathy O′Hare, M.A., Certified Asian Bodywork Therapist and Jin Shin Jyutsu Self–Help Instructor, has taught Acupressure and Chinese Medicine for 20+ years at the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA, Tel: 925–225–0896. She has been a student of Sifu Jensen since 1992 & teaches Muscle Tendon Qi Gong.

The Get Ripped Diet

By Robert Alexander

When I was a kid, in the 14th Century, we were told to eat a balanced diet. There were four or five Food Groups from which to choose. There have been so many versions of government food recommendations since then that I don′t clearly remember what was recommended then. Probably, there was dairy, meat, vegetables, fruits, and Twinkies. Guess who was bribing, I mean, lobbying government officials to make those recommendations?

I never had a clue as to what ratios or quantities of anything was needed or desirable. What is a balanced diet, anyway? Theoretically, back then, I could eat a cow, a grape, some iceberg lettuce, a case of Hostess Cupcakes, and drink some milk and I′d be good, right?

In 1995, I had been lifting weights, doing yoga, and running regularly for a year or so. My body fat was stable at 12%, which wasn′t bad. I encountered the original "Enter the Zone" book, the first of what has grown to a collection of 10 volumes by Barry Sears, a lipid scientist who was dealt a lousy genetic hand. The men in his family all died in their forties and fifties of heart attacks. Following the dietary recommendations precisely, I maintained the same workout routine. In a few months, my body fat dropped to 8%, close to a bodybuilder′s competition level, of 5–6%. My muscle mass increased. As you can imagine, I was impressed. Besides the fat loss benefit, the Zone has scientific rationale which supports it as being optimal in nutrient content and a great way to lower inflammation. Inflammation has been recognized as a major contributor to all disease states.

Since then, other diet books have entered the scene that are similar to the Zone, including the South Beach Diet, the Fat Flush Plan, and Protein Power, among others. Even the Atkins Diet, in its maintenance phase, is pretty close. The infamous very low–carb part of Atkins is only for the first two weeks, during the inductive phase.

Although the Zone has been labeled with various vague catch phrases it′s really only a moderate variation of what a traditional American Dietetic Association (ADA) nutritionist would recommend. Here it is in a nutshell:

Each meal/snack consists of 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat, by calories
Eat 4–6 meals/snacks per day
Have each meal/snack contain no more than 500 calories
Total calories taken in must be equal to calories expended in order to maintain weight, reduced to lose weight, and increased to gain weight.

That′s about it. Sure, there are lots of details, but that′s the secret formula. In using this formula, my protein intake increased significantly. This allowed more muscle synthesis to take place from strength training. More muscle mass raised my metabolic rate, or the number of calories burned at rest. That burned more fat. At the same time, my carbohydrate intake decreased somewhat, insulin releases were reduced, and less fat was deposited.

This formula has a little more protein and a little less carbohydrate than what the ADA or the government would recommend. The percentage of fat is about the same. There are a few authors, such as MacDougall and Ornish, who advocate a very high carbohydrate, very low fat, low protein diet. While such diets can be useful for periods of healing from illness, my opinion is that not many of us can maintain such eating patterns for life and stay healthy.

Veggie dudes and dudettes just differ on the source of the protein. To accommodate vegetarians and vegans, one of Sears′ books is The Soy Zone.

Of course, in order to be ripped, that is, to have well–defined muscles, there need to be well–developed muscles below the layer of fat that is being eliminated. In order to have those, one must do strength training. Be aware only doing cardio training is not the key to fat loss.

Long story short–In order to get ripped, eat as outlined above, and do strength training, cardiovascular exercise, and stretching. Then watch your muscles start rippling.

Red Dates

By Rachel Jensen

When I was growing up, my mom would make me red–date snacks of various sorts: a chewy paste of mashed red dates and walnuts, or a red date and white fungus sweet soup. She often said that red dates were good for the heart and the skin, and there were common sayings in Mandarin that roughly translate as, "If you desire your skin looking stunning, add red dates to your cooking" and "Taking red dates daily, even at 100 years old looking comely."

Western medicine reveals that in addition to carbohydrates and fat, red dates carry protein; bet–carotene; vitamins B, C, and P; calcium; iron; and phosphorous. All of this helps dilation of the blood vessels and contraction of the heart muscles. In short, they bring better nutrition to the heart. It′s also said that they treat hepatitis quite effectively.

In Chinese medicine, red dates build Qi and Blood, and they transform weak Qi into strong Qi. They calm the spirit, benefit the Spleen and Stomach. Along with these qualities, red dates promote sleep. Try cooking a few red dates in water and drinking the tonic after dinner or before bed time.

But like astragalus, red dates affect blood pressure, so consult a medical proffesional before treating yourself. If you have high blood pressure, you may be at risk of adverse side effects. Also, avoid red dates if you have internal heat such as constipation.