Overcoming a Winter Cough, Cold or Flu with Chinese Medicine – 6 Steps to Keep the Bugs at Bay

It’s that time of year again isn’t it – snotty noses, headaches, sore throats – it’s enough to want to make you sneeze. As a midwife, you’re often in contact with little kids and families, and you’re vulnerable to catching bacteria and viruses, especially during winter. Chinese medicine can help prevent those cold-weather bugs from invading, and ease the severity if a cough, cold or flu does take hold. So I thought I’d give you the heads-up on what to do for yourself or for the women in your care if the bugs start to take over.

Step 1: Drink warm fluids

You might have noticed that many Chinese and Asian people drink plain warm water instead of cold water.  It’s to aid digestion – in Chinese medicine, cold foods and beverages are thought to cause phlegm and hamper metabolism.  Herbal teas and bone broths are much better than ‘damp’ fluids like milks (cow’s milk and soy milk really add to that damp mucousy feeling in the back of your throat).

Step 2: Increase your daily intake of garlic, ginger and lemon.

Garlic and ginger are warming as well as being antibacterial and antiviral. They’re nature’s superfoods when it comes to colds and flu. Lemon is great as it’s packed with vitamin C to give your immune system a boost.

Step 3: Have some bone broth every day.

It’s beneficial for your gut lining as well as being rehydrating. Since over 70% of your immune system is in your gut, it’s super important to keep it happy. I have an easy way of making bone broth that I’ll tell you about a bit further down.

Step 4: Keep your feet, your hara (that’s your tummy), your kidneys and your neck warm.

These are all the bits that can be forgotten sometimes. It’s important to keep them covered to ensure a good flow of your Qi (your body’s energy). You know how when you have cold feet, everything just doesn’t feel right? That’s because it’s not – your Qi is having a hard time circulating and heating up and so organ systems are also under more strain and pressure. So ease the stress and get dressed!

Step 5: Rest when you feel tired and don’t overdo it.

Rest will help your body replenish and rejuvenate. So much healing happens when we sleep so don’t skimp on it if you can help it. If you’re a shift worker or you work nights, this means resting more during the day or just whenever you can!

Step 6: Avoid sugar.

Every teaspoon you have is not helping your immune system to flourish. You want your immunity to be strong and ready to fight at this time of year. Feed yourself good wholesome, warm, slow-cooked food where you can and your body will thank you.

 

Chicken Broth Recipe

Ingredients:

2–3 chicken carcasses (preferably free range or organic), washed. (You can use your leftover carcass from a roast chicken or you can use a bunch of chicken legs. The more chicken you use, the richer the stock is.)

4     sticks of celery, washed and cut into pieces

2     brown onions, with skin left on, washed and cut

2     carrots, with skin and ends intact, washed and cut

4     Tbsp apple cider vinegar (to help bring out calcium and other minerals)

Sea salt to taste (add this at the end)

Water – fill a large stockpot or your slow cooker almost to the top

This is the base ingredients list. You may wish to add herbs for more flavour depending on what the stock is going to be used for. Additions can include things like bay leaves, marjoram, parsley or peppercorns – however, when making a stock for your toddler just stick with the ingredients above and nothing more. Whatever you do though, make sure you don’t add salt until the end, otherwise all the goodness from the bones and vegetables will not leach into the water.

 

Method:

1. Place your chicken into a pot. Cover it with water, bring it to the boil and then discard the water and replace with fresh water. This cleans the chicken and you won’t need to skim the scum from the stock later on.

2. Place all ingredients in the stockpot and fill with water to 4/5 of pot capacity. Bring to the boil and then simmer for two hours or more; the longer you simmer the richer it becomes. If you have a slow cooker, use that and do it for 10 hours. Once it’s finished, add salt to taste. If you’ve been simmering for a long time though, chances are you won’t need any salt.

3. When complete, leave to cool, strain (for fat) through a sieve using muslin cloth and store in containers for refrigeration or freezing.

Sunday – This is the day you could cook up your stock as you’ll likely have more time and it can keep in smaller batches to be used during the week. If you’re feeding your kids or you’re making this broth for a mum and her family, use chicken or beef (lamb is too heating for little kids).