(Episode 74) Supporting Your Immune System During the Fall Transition

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In this episode you’ll learn about the different ways you can strengthen your immune system as we head into the Fall or Autumn season. These methods can also be applied to any seasonal change by focusing on some of the body systems, like the Lungs, colon, skin, Spleen and Stomach.

These tips will help with digestive issues, and can even be useful for improving weight management and restful sleep.

Hydration

Fall is a time of the Lungs and the climate is drier, which will most impact your Lungs, Large Intestine/colon and skin systems. It’s important to strengthen your Lungs and to combat dryness during this time.

During the day, Wei Qi provides a protective layer along your skin to protect you from the external environment.

If your skin is dry you can use oils to bring back hydration into the skin. You can use sesame oil, shea butter, or coconut oil. These are strong hydration techniques, so be cautious if your skin gets oily quickly, as these heavy oils can clog pores.

Too much exposure to the elements this time of year, especially with the strong winds and cold temperatures, can cause you to contract Wind Cold. The phrase “catching a cold” comes from this idea! Wind Cold can transform into Wind Heat, which is a more infectious and more serious condition.

Since Stomach fluids are a big part of Wei Qi production, hydration is essential.

The water you drink is important because most water sources are stripped of their minerals (like potassium & sodium) and electrolytes. You can make sure the water you drink have these minerals by putting them in your water yourself. You can add a pinch of Celtic sea salt.

Food and Nutrition

Wei Qi rules your immune system and is produced in the Stomach. You can make dietary changes to strengthen your Wei Qi and reduce dryness, or for some people to reduce dampness during the Fall season, and all seasonal transitions.

If you have any skin issues you’re going to want to avoid nuts, and eat more seeds instead. Almonds are great for the Lungs, it strengthens and nourishes them.

However if you need to hydrate the Lungs, eat fruits such as citruses, apples, and pears - pears are the best.

How you cook your foods is important in terms of how this affects your wellbeing.

For instance, to increase the hydrating effect of fruits for the Lungs, you can steam, poach, or even just let the fruit sit in a pot to simmer for a little while. If you bake these fruits instead, this would be more drying.

When cooking fruits, there’s no need to add sugar, but do add spices like cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. This will introduce the Earth element and it warms some of the cold nature of the fruit.

Even though this is a season of dryness, some people have a dampness problem and not a dryness problem. This could be caused by what they are eating (dairy, sugar, processed carbs) creating mucus and phlegm. Avoid these foods if you do have too much dampness.

To nourish the Earth Element during any seasonal change, eat regularly, don’t skip meals or eat haphazardly.

Intermittent fasting is best suited for those with a lot of Stomach Fire, hypertension and high blood sugar levels. If this is you, having a break from food - a period of cool down - is helpful to your health.

If you are insulin resistant and have poor digestion on the other hand, smaller meals eaten through out the day is the way to go. This is because larger meals can stress the Spleen and weaken the Qi.

You can take digestive enzymes to help break down the food, which helps prevent stagnation and accumulation of heat in the Stomach which can cause constipation. And due to the dryness this time of year, constipation can be more common.

You can order our personal line of digestive enzymes (Ahara Botanics) directly through our store.

If you’re fatigued, your lower back is aching, or you’re prone to burnout, consider eating more seeds. Pumpkin seeds specifically are high in zinc which helps the Kidneys and your immune system.

Rest & Exercise

During this time of season which is moving from Yang to Ying, your energy is shifting from being outwardly expressed to going more inward. This is a time to minimize your relationship with the external world, a time to reset.

This time of year you should be getting more rest to support your immune system.

Eating small amounts of the cooked fruit towards the end of the day can help aide your sleep because it anchors your Lung Qi.

While rest is important this time of year, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise. Exercise keeps the Lungs strong. You should do cardiovascular exercise to get your heart rate up. During the Fall, this can be in the form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts in as short as 8-10 minutes. In addition to the HIIT workouts, we recommend gentle exercises, such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or Yoga.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Strengthen your immune system, restore your gut health, and improve joint mobility and circulation with our unique line of expertly formulated probiotics, digestive enzymes and proteolytic enzymes at www.aharabotanics.com. Use promo code HEALTHY10 for 10% off your first order!

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(Episode 10) How Salads and Smoothies Can Impede Weight Loss

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s your biggest takeaway about Cold from this episode?

Health trends often encourage a diet rich in raw fruits and vegetables to maximize the enzymes and nutrients available in these foods. But what if we told you those same nutrition-packed smoothies and salads may be contributing to weight gain, fatigue and a slower metabolism?

More important than how much nutrition is in foods is your body's ability to absorb nutrients.

According to Chinese Medicine, nutrition is food + digestion, which means that no matter what you eat, your digestion needs to be healthy first.

In this episode, you'll hear about the shift Dr. Moafi made in her dietary health after connecting the dots with her health issues when she was eating what she thought was a “healthy” diet filled with salads, smoothies and cold drinks.

You’ll learn about the 8 principles of Chinese Medicine and how applying these principles to your food and lifestyle choices can optimize your health and weight loss goals.

The 8 Principles

According to Chinese Medicine, the 8 Principles that guide diagnosis are Yin and Yang, internal and external, hot and cold, excess and deficiency.

The 8 Principles are rooted in the Daoist principles of Yin and Yang, which are both the foundation of all of life as well as the foundation of Chinese diagnosis.

Yin is anything that’s more cooling, quiet, contemplative and slow. In nature, it’s most closely related to nighttime and the moon. On the other hand, Yang is more warming, active, extroverted, and fast. In nature, it’s most closely related to the daytime and the sun.

From there you can understand the other six principles: cold and hot, internal and external, and excess and deficiency.

The Perils of Cold

Cold is a common factor that can become pathological if the weather is too cold as well as through a diet that’s too cold.

Internally, cold is generated by diet such as a lot of raw food, including smoothies and Western pharmaceutical drugs especially those which suppress inflammation, pain and the immune system or antibiotics.

Cold constricts Qi and its movement, which can create both sharp pain as well as stiffness. Internally, it can manifest as gut pain and menstrual pain, as well as infertility if the cold lodges into the reproductive system.

Cold freezes pain and inflammation to bring temporary relief, but Cold also freezes the problem into the tissues and inhibits the circulation of Yang Qi and blood, both of which are needed for longterm healing. Yang Qi is metabolic energy that creates body warmth and supports healthy immunity. Once the Yang Qi is compromised, a person's healing capacity is weakened.

Hyptertension medication for example lowers blood pressure while suppressing the Yang Qi and therefore inducing cold internally that can manifest as erectile dysfunction.

Birth control medication similarly can induce cold and cause stagnation.

A person with Yang Qi insufficiency will show signs of fatigue, low metabolism, gets sick easily and tends to feel cold.

Cold leads to the stagnation of circulation and pain and can also be induced by working in a cold environment such as the fish department in a grocery store. Arthritis conditions can develop over long term exposure to cold environments. 

For any condition of cold and to counter the effects of cold from medication or your environment, it’s essential to focus on warming your core energy.

Tips to Counter the Effects of Cold

One of the most essential tips is to avoid drinking cold drinks or adding ice to your drinks. So drink more hot water with ginger or turmeric or even just room temperature drinks.

Another tip is to soak your body or just your feet in warm water to increase your core temperature.

Hot packs are another great way to warm your body — place a hot pack on your lower back, lower abdomen or at the base of your neck, especially if you have cold limbs or experience headaches or neck stiffness.

The most important thing is to remember that eating a lot of cold foods like salads, smoothies and yogurt will induce cold internally over time. This will make you feel colder, slow down your metabolism and inhibit you from losing weight over time.

The Spleen Qi regulates your metabolism and when it’s taxed, the Spleen won’t be able to create Qi and therefore won’t be able to regulate the metabolism.

At first, eating a lot of salads can result in weight loss especially if you’ve been eating a diet rich in carbohydrates, sugars or any type of refined foods. However, over time, as this cold food taxes the Spleen Qi, your digestion and metabolism will be compromised and therefore the transformation and transportation function of the Spleen is impacted. Since the mind is an extension of the Spleen according to Chinese Medicine, the mental processes including your memory and concentration may be impacted by weakness in the Spleen Qi.

Diarrhea, fatigue, poor memory and poor concentration are all common symptoms of Spleen Qi weakness.

A great way to strengthen your Spleen Qi is to eat more warm, nourishing foods including congee, which you can learn all about in this article.

In general, remember to:

  1. Eat fewer cold foods and drinks

  2. Keep your body warm with hot baths or foot soaks as well as the use of hot packs.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s your biggest takeaway about Cold from this episode?

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