Winter remedies: warming herbs, foot bath and root vegetables.

It's too bad that most of us can't leave work behind and seek the sunshine to escape a chilly winter. Coping well with the cold can make a world of difference and learning a bit of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to follow the nature of the season can help you prepare for a warmer and healthier winter.
According to TCM, cold weather can affect the circulation of qi (energy) and blood and can cause common problems like flu, headache and back pain. After studying and practicing Chinese medicine for five years, MD Hooman Kazemi with a PhD in TCM, prefers natural ways to heal and prevent disease rather than prescribing pills.
"Following the rules of nature not only prevents illness but also cures," Kazemi told the Global Times. "TCM believes that to live a healthy life, the body's positive and negative drives, yin and yang, must be balanced. Any imbalance could cause a problem. Winter is cold, so we should do certain things to relieve the cold to restore balance."
Eating warm
"To fight with the cold, we need to eat more food that is of a warm nature, not a cold nature," Kazemi explained.
In TCM, foods are classified by certain natures, such as moist and dry, cold and warm, draining and nourishing, to help balance the body.
"For example, it's better to drink black tea than green tea in winter because black tea is warm and green tea is cold," the doctor said.
Food that is warm in nature includes most meat, ginger, Chinese date, safflower and cinnamon. According to Kazemi, making soup with warm ingredients can prevent and cure cold.
The nature of food is not decided by its temperature. Usually, items that take a long time to grow are warmer than those that grow quickly. Most root vegetables are warm, such as carrots, onions, garlic and lotus root.
"Food with a cold nature such as green beans, cucumber and watermelons should be avoided," he added. "But it doesn't mean we shouldn't eat them at all. Sometimes people stay in a warm place for too long and eat too much meat, having some food with a cold nature, such as celery, helps to clear the extra heat in the body."
"It's all about the balance," he said.

Dressing warm

"Besides a cold, my patients often come to me for back pain," Kazemi commented. "Actually, back pain is usually due to muscle spasm and muscle spasm is due to the attack of wind or cold, which is usually because they don't have enough clothes."
There is nothing wrong with dressing fashionably, but rugging up will do more than simply keeping you warm.
According to TCM, a lot of disease is due to the attack of wind and cold, with common problems in winter including arthritis, neck pain and back pain.
"The joints, especially the knees, the shoulders, the waist and neck are the most sensitive parts," Kazemi said. "We should protect those parts extra well, especially people who ride bicycles and motorcycles to go to work every day."
Kazemi also warns women not to wear short coats that expose their waist when bending and sitting, which may cause waist pain and irregular menstruation.
Taking care of qihai (an acupoint below the belly button) is also very important in winter as it produces warmth and energy to heat up the body.
"For my patients who are more afraid of cold than normal people, I suggest them to put a scarf on their waist," he said. "If the qihai area is warm, it helps to heat up the whole body."

Living warm

"The home should be warm, but we should be careful if we keep the home very warm because of the difference of degrees between inside and outside. When we go out we can get cold easily and also it's not good for your health because of the disturbance in balance of body temperature," Kazemi explained, adding that the home should also not be kept hot and dry.
"Put some water on the oven or use a machine to produce steam to make the home warm and humid...It will help your respiratory system," he advised.
"I suggest making the home warm, but not hot and put on more clothes. Also we need to open the windows every day at least for several minutes to let in the fresh air."
Kazemi recommends against using an air conditioner as it is too drying, instead some simple TCM techniques can do the trick, driving away cold and boosting energy circulation.
"Doing moxibustion at the area of qihai helps," he said. "Light a moxibustion stick and hold it close to your skin but not too close as it could burn the skin."
Putting slices of ginger on the skin can avoid a burn and also help better receive the warmth.
Moxibustion is common in TCM practice and moxibustion sticks can be purchased at most TCM clinics as they are simple and safe to use. A package of moxibustion sticks (10 sticks) can be as cheap as 10 yuan ($1.50).
For people who do not have time for moxibustion, they can massage the qihai area by themselves.
"It helps the regulation of qi," Kazemi added.
Soaking feet in warm water at night will help the circulation of qi and the circulation of blood around the body.
"Warmer feet also help you to fall asleep faster and sleep better," he said.