Food in China - Living in China

4 TCM food remedies for Weight Loss

Carrying a few extra pounds, I’m bypassing the local dim-sum restaurant and went on the hunt for local solutions for weight loss and here’s what I come up with.

Firstly, everyone agrees, you can’t put in more than you give out, meaning, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Damn, I really do have to do exercise.

Interestingly, I’m not a big eater, had dropped bread from the diet some time ago, don’t drink soda and stick to just one or two cups of tea or coffee each day. Where was the weight coming from?

That’s when I learned about some of the perspectives of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which, strives to tackle the root cause of obesity by first, by evaluating whether there is an underlying condition, then treating that condition and from there maintaining a correct diet. There’s an article here which explains further.

So the first step on the road back to a healthy weight may be to take a visit to your local TCM doctor. Either way, here are some of the traditional Chinese recipes that may help with obesity and weight loss:

1. Stagnation of Liver QI

Excess abdominal fat, bloated feeling and low energy level?

Recipe:
10g of hawthorn berries (shan zha)
5g of ginger (jiang)
500ml of water

Boil for five minutes. Drink while warm, some people also add wolfberries and honey.

2. Excessive Internal Phlegm

A sedentary lifestyle, too much sweet or greasy foods, along with cold food and drinks can lead to spleen troubles including ‘internal dampness’ apparently.

Recipe:
Soak 20g of barley (yi mi) and 10g of melon skin (dong gua) for 20 minutes
Then bring the water to a boil.
Filter the barley and melon skin before serving.

3. Deficiencies in the Spleen and Kidney Systems

Feeling fatigued and short of breath? Back pain or knee pain?

Recipe:
10g gordon euryale seeds (qian shi)
20g lotus seeds (lian zi)
50g fresh Chinese yam (shan yao)
100g lean pork (zhu rou)

Puffiness and fluid retention?

Recipe:
1 cup, or so, of chopped winter-melon (dong gua)
1 inch piece of ginger chopped (jiang)
1 Spring onion chopped (cong)
5 Cups of water

Bring all ingredients to boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

There are all sorts of other tips too, such as relaxed walking after eating, not eating after 6pm at night, eating at the correct times during the day, drinking Pu’erh Tea, not drinking fluids one hour before or after eating, eating pears, and your surely bound to come across many more.

Credits:
http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/fight-obesity-tcm
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/tcmrole_obesityweight_principles.html
http://www.pingminghealth.com/article/583/winter-melon-and-odema/