Kitchen Wisdom for Cold and Flu Season

Chinese medicine doesn’t make a big difference between a cold and the flu, and they are treated much the same. The robust person reacts to the invasion of a respiratory pathogen by getting "wind-heat" and a weaker person reacted to the invasion by getting "wind-cold." (A person who can mount a wind-heat response to an invasion is not generally depleted.) In ancient times (2500 years ago) there was a simple remedy that was used to address the first signs of cold and flu for someone who developed "wind-cold." It was called Green onion and Ginger Decoction. The contents are still available today at your local grocery store:

For Wind-Cold: (symptoms of clear drippy mucous, very slight fever if any, fatigue, achy joints)
Take 2-3 slices of fresh ginger and 2-3 scallions (green onions) and put them in 1 gallon of water that you have brought to a boil on the stove. Reduce the “soup” heat to a simmer, and simmer for about 30 minutes, covered. Then dispense with the “solids” in the soup, and put the liquid into a thermos to keep it hot. Sip on the hot ginger and scallion soup over about 3 hours.

After doing this you may start to sweat. Make sure you climb into bed, keeping warm, don’t sit in a draft, and make sure that you keep yourself in dry clothing. This will do what your grandmother called “sweating the devil out of you.” The worst of the cold/flu should be gone within 24 hours.

If you would like to address the chills, you can cut a few more slices of ginger and boil them up, throwing the boiled water into a hot bath, where you will sit and soak in the ginger bath until the water starts to cool. Make sure you dress warmly when you get out, and get into bed and pile on the blankets. Remember you want to sweat it out. Do not uncover yourself if you start to feel hot. The point is to….did you miss it?...sweat!

In addition to these strategies for wind-cold, consider some dietary advice: eat warming foods such as soups, and spicy foods that will help open your nasal passages. Eating dairy will create more phlegm and will increase respiratory congestion, so don't do it.


For Wind-Heat: (symptoms include higher fever, mucous that is thicker, technicolor, achy joints, bigger chills)
The strategy here is to cool yourself off a little, but not to expose yourself to wind in the form of drafts (like open windows) or vented air. Cooling should take place internally with things like (hot) peppermint tea or chrysanthemum tea. Also, it is important to refrain from eating foods that will make you "hotter" such as sugar, very spicy food, caffeine or alcohol; all these will make you feel worse. Eating dairy will make the phlegm you are experiencing thicker, greener, and more difficult to get out.

There are also Chinese herbal products that help with both wind-heat and wind-cold, so ask your friendly neighborhood acupuncturist to help you select the right product for an immune enhancing strategy that prevents the invasion of pathogens, as well as the products that can help once symptoms begin.

Whether you are experiencing wind-cold or wind-heat, please do yourself and everyone else around you a favor: stay home and don't spread your illness to friends and colleagues. So stay home and take the time to rest and get well before heading out to infect the rest of us.

Chinese Medicine's Approach to Cold and Flu

Chinese medicine has great advice to offer when it comes to enhancing immunity and keeping the body strong against external pathogens (including flu viruses). Because the Ancients didn't have electron microscopes to differentiate viruses and bacteria, the focus is less on the pathogen (the virus or bacteria) itself and instead considers the body's ability to protect and heal itself. The weaker person will receive the pathogen and generate "cold," while the robust person will generate "heat." (See a further explanation, below.)

Here are some ideas gleaned from the Chinese medicine tradition to consider incorporating in order to stay strong and healthy this fall and winter:

Avoid being exposed to cold temperatures and wind when possible. This includes central air conditioning and fans that may blow on you at work or in your sleep. The perspective is that a sudden and stressful change in temperature can lower our body's defenses. (Grandma was right about this one!)

Avoid wearing wet clothes. Change into dry clothing at the gym, don't go out with a wet head after a shower or after sweating, don't expose open pores (sweaty skin) to cold temperatures.

Avoid over-work and exhaustion. This one should come as no surprise. Seems every medical tradition can agree that fatigue makes you more susceptible to illness.

Decrease your dairy intake. Dairy (as well as sugar and oily foods) is thought to create a thick phlegm environment in the body, which makes fighting a cold or flu an uphill battle. If you feel you are getting sick it is a good idea to eliminate dairy altogether.

Get Acupuncture. Acupuncture can be very effective at warding off a bug if caught early (usually within the first day of onset of symptoms). The point selection will vary for different people. Acupuncture is a great to way to support your immune system before cold and flu season.

Keep certain Chinese Herbs on hand. Chinese herbs are an incredibly effective way to combat a cold or flu. It's interesting to note that different people exposed to the same pathogen may react with different symptoms based on the person's constitution and the stage of the illness. In Chinese medicine the person's symptoms are the guideposts to the way to treat. They are thought to have either a "cold" or "hot" quality and the "vehicle" of delivery is seen to be the wind:

Wind-Cold (This reaction to a pathogen is typical of a weaker immune system, often seen in middle aged or older adults, and weaker children):
Characteristics: mild fever, chills, inability to get warm, achy joints, no thirst, nasal or sinus congestion with clear mucus, runny nose with thin mucus, cough with clear mucus, stiff neck and shoulders, headache [usually back of head]).

Remedies for Wind-Cold:
Diaphoretic (sweating) therapy is often recommended for this condition, since it warms the body and pushes the pathogen out through the pores. Hot liquids and foods, including miso soup and ginger tea (using minced fresh ginger)

Wind-Heat (This reaction to a pathogen is typical of younger children, adolescents--especially males--and robust young adults):
Characteristics: the fever is worse than the chills, sweating, swollen and sore throat, headache [usually top of head], irritability, and thirst. If there is a cough, it is usually dry or nonproductive, with occasional expectoration of yellow mucus.

Remedies for Wind-Heat:
Avoid sweets and stimulants (such as caffeinated beverages). They aggravate the condition by feeding the pathogen.
Drink Chrysanthemum and/or peppermint tea (both are cooling).

In my next post, I will give you a recipe from the Chinese Kitchen school of flu and cold remedies. (I made up that name; don't go Googling it!)

CDC Advice for This Flu Season

The CDC has posted the following recommendations on their site as ways of staying healthy against the H1N1 flu virus this year:

Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people:
*Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
*Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. *Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
*Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
*Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
*Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
*Find healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety.

Stay tuned for more news from my office on how to stay healthy during cold and flu season!