The Organ Clock

Every one of our 12 organs have a two hour peek period during the day, a period when just that organ is most active.
In "Healing with Whole foods", Paul Pitchford advises the correct time for eating, depending if you are a 3 meals, 2 meals or even a 1 meal-a-day person.
If the energy in an organ is out of balance, symptoms will be more noticeable during the organ's two-hour period e.g. if you regularly wake up around 2 am, blame your liver.
Organs who are 12 hours "away" from each other, influences each other too, so if the first has a lack of energy, the second will have too much energy and balance should be recreated.
Too much energy: the illness or problem occurs and gets bigger both when the body is at rest and in physical activity.
Lack of energy: the illness or problem only occurs or gets bigger during physical activity.
05.00-07.00 : large intestine
07.00-09.00 : stomach
09.00-11.00 : spleen
11.00-13.00 : heart
13.00-15.00 : small intestine
15.00-17.00 : bladder
17.00-19.00 : kidney
19.00-21.00 : pericardium
21.00-23.00 : sansho
23.00-01.00 : gall bladder
01.00-03.00 : liver
03.00-05.00 : lung
Sanso I explained already in a previous blog. Pericardium in TCM is not the same as in western medicine, it is more the function of circulation than the bag around the heart.
The pericardium governs blood, and houses the mind, both functions being the same as the Heart. As a TCM student you should know that the Pericardium meridian points have a powerful influence on the mind. It also has an effects on a persons relationships.

Between 05.00-07.00 we should drink water, or even better  Rejuvelac, to trigger bowel movements to eliminate the toxins / waste from the day before, and make place for the new day nutritients.
Between 07.00-09.00  3 meals-a-day people should eat the most important meal of the day, dont forget to eat from yang to yin in your day time, so no fruits in the morning, to optimize your food with the energies in your body.
Between 09.00-11.00, the spleen takes over from the stomach, the stomach passes its contents on. Enzymes from the pancreas continue the digestive process.
Between 11.00-13.00, the heart takes over and distributes the energies / nutritients from the food through the whole body.
Between 13.00-15.00, it is time that the small intestine becomes active, this mostly for the proteins in your meal, as they need longer time to digest.
Between 15.00-17.00, the bladder organizes the elimination of the liquid part of the meal.
Between 17.00-19.00, it is time for the kidneys: they filter the blood and maintains the proper chemical balance of blood based on nutritional intake of the day.
Between 19.00-21.00, the Pericardium transports what the kidneys decided to keep.
Between 21.00-23.00, the endocrine system adjusts the homeostasis of the body based on electrolyte and enzyme replenishment.
Between 23.00-01.00, the gall bladder takes over, in his function to clean all tissues, and also processes cholesterol and enhances the brain function.
Between 01.00-03.00, the liver cleanses the blood and processes the waist.
Between 03.00-05.00, the lungs become most active in the expulsion of waist gasses.

This is what our body and our organs do every day, should n't we be very gratefull for these wonderfull processes?

Sansho

Sansho, also called the triple heater is regarded as a "organ" in Chinese Traditional Medicine. Triple, as it has a superior, a middle and a lower source of heat, situated at the entry, the middle and the exit of the stomach, the places where we find the most ulcers.

The middle heater transfers food into energy, producing clear energy, that goes to the superior heater and later to the lungs, and unclear, liquid energy that goes to the lower heater. and later to the kidneys.

Poor fish

William Li: Can we eat to starve cancer?

Amino Acids Part IV

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As we learned before, in humans dietary proteins are broken down by digestion into amino acids, which serves as metabolic fuel for other functional roles in the body. The non essential amino acids are those who are made by our body.

But as most are made from essential amino acids, by lack thereoff, we also can sometimes have a lack of non essential amino acids. 

Non essential amino acids are:

*glycine which feed brain, anterior pituritary, gallbladder, muscles, stomach

*aline feeds the liver,

*cysteine nourishes blood, pancreas, lungs

*proline for a healthy skin

*glutamine for the gastrointestinal tract, stomach, brain

*tyrosine for the  thyroid

*tyrosine feeds the brain

*asparagine for the nervous system  It also plays an important role in the synthesis of ammonia. Asparagus is a main source.

*aspartic acid serves as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is an excitotoxin.

*glutamic acid  is involved in cognitive functions like learning and memory in the brain . Kombu is an  excellent source. 

*Serine is important in metabolism as it participates in the biosynthesis of purines and pyrimidines. It is also the precursor to several amino acids, including glycine, cysteine, and, in bacteria, tryptophan.

 

Amino Acids Part III

I  would like to write a seperate article about one of the foods that have all essential, and even some non essential amino acids: green blue algae.
If the body does not receive sufficient acids, certain body tissues are cannibalized, often causing such problems as  premature aging, memory loss, poor intellectual performance and even depression. Blue-green algae contain all of the essential amino acids as well as most of the non essential amino acids, making them a complete protein supplement.

Amino Acids Part II

Image via Wikipedia

We start with the essential amino acids , as our body can not make them, we have to be sure that we have them with our intake of food.
They are arginine (required  for the young, but not for adults), histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

 Arginine

Arginine is needed for the function of the anterior pituritary for youngsters but also some adults can be helped by this amino acid, in case of poisening of the liver or erectile dysfunction.Arginine is found in high content in protein rich foods such as peanuts, walnuts, brazilnuts, cocunut, seafoods,  cereals (oats and wheat), and chocolate. Legumes such as soybean and chickpea are also rich natural sources of arginine.

Histidine

Histidine feeds the blood, bones and gastrointestinal tract. Histamine is a substance typically produced from histidine,  so people with allergies should be special attentive to this amino acid. If they take too much, it can worsten their situation. It is mostly found in high proteine, aged food like old cheeses and dried or roasted meat, and also in some fermentated soy products.

Isoleucine

Isoleucine feeds the muscles and is present in almonds, cashews, fish, lentils and most seeds.

Leucine

Leucine also feeds the muscles , it is found in roasted peanuts with skin, raw salmon, nuts, almonds, chickpeas, raw sesame seed, raw flaxseed, asparagus etc.

Lysine

Lysine feeds the heart, muscles and skin. People with herpes should eat food high in lysine and low in arginine, like papaya, sprouts, beets, advocados. tomatoes.Lysine can be found in mango, apricot, apples, dried pear, fat fish, turnips, celery etc.

Methionine

Methionine nourishes the heart and liver, vegetables rich in methionine are spinach, green peas, corn (boiled) and all nuts, tofu and tempeh.

Phenylalanine

Phenylalanine feeds the brain, the liver, thyroid and hypothalamus. We find it in cocoa powder, brown bread and all things made with whole wheat flour ( chapati, noodles etc..)
Aspartame contains 40 % of phenylalanine . PKU patiens should restrict their intake of this amino acid, so should avoud aspartame. As aspartame is a checmical, it should be avoided by everyone.

Threonine

Threonine feeds the liver, and it is one of the amino detoxifers. It helps prevent fatty buildup in the liver and is an important component of collagen. It is generally low in vegetarians.But leafy vegetables are high in threonine. It is also found in whole grains, pulses, nuts, apples, peaches and figs.

Tryprophan

Tryprophan feeds the liver, blood and brain and can be found in nuts, bananas, soybeans and soy products, tuna, shellfish,roasted seeds of pumpkin, sesame and sunflower. Consumption of red or brown rice would also help to increase the tryptophan in the blood stream. 
This amino acid is very important for a good mood and a healthy sleep as it plays an important role in the production of both serotonin and melatonin.
If you suffer from bad mood or bad sleep, you can do 2 things:

- Consume foods high in tryptophan on an empty stomach as this aids absorption

- Take foods high in tryptophan on their own with no other proteins or amino acids.

Valine

Valine build up the muscles  Very high levels of valine can cause symptoms such as a crawling sensation on the skin, as well as hallucinations. Individuals with kidney or liver disease should be careful in consuming high intakes of amino acids without consulting their doctor. Valine should always be taken in balance with leucine and isoleucine.It can be found in seafood, roasted peanuts (with skin), sesame seeds and lentils.