by Marco Lombardozzi
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, November is the month in which humidity enters the body and begins to create the first imbalances. In fact, the kidney is the organ most involved in this period of the year, according to the principles of this ancient Medicine. Therefore, from November onwards, it is important to start eating cooked foods, avoiding overindulging in foods that are too cold, such as salads, mozzarella and citrus fruits. These foods slow down and cool the middle jiao, making it difficult to function and increasing internal humidity. Jiao refers to the “triple heater”, that is, the series of organs that transform food into energy, characterized by numerous energetic connections with all parts of the body, among which the kidney is the main one.
We doctors know how important it is to warm up when there is a cold. As a preventive measure, therefore, in this period of the year, we must avoid any occasion that could expose us to the cold, both external and internal.
When we talk about cold we mean both the climatic element linked to temperature, and foods, as we have seen, but also the emotional states that find their expression in the cold such as, for example, depriving oneself of emotions, feeling indifference towards others, greed, avarice, selfishness. In a PNEI (psychoneuroendocrinoimmunological) vision of medicine, the emotional element has equal dignity of importance compared to the physical one. It would therefore be appropriate to avoid the states described above but rather seek joyful stimuli and states of love. From a therapeutic point of view there are natural substances that produce the physical and emotional effects necessary for this period, let's see some of them.
Eucalyptus essential oil is a powerful fluidifier of bronchial catarrh, therefore it dissolves the cold lungs. Thyme essential oil has a very important effect on bronchopulmonary infections, antiseptic and stimulating the elimination of catarrh. This essential oil also has a warming effect. Marshmallow is another plant typically used in winter: it has emollient, softening and anti-inflammatory properties and also inhibitors on the mucociliary activity of the bronchial walls. Drosera has an antiseptic action, due to plumbaginin, an effective antibiotic against streptococci, staphylococci and pneumococci. Icelandic lichen is important in this period, the leaves, used in medicine, are dried in the sun, and carry out their therapeutic action thanks to the active ingredients lichein and isolichein
It dissolves phlegm and has an antibiotic action. Pulmonaria should not be overlooked, its name is suggestive of its action on the lung. In 1500 its action was defined as “desiccant”, anticipating what was discovered in recent times regarding its action of reducing bronchial phlegm. The use of poppy petals should not be overlooked, which are collected between May and July, in the midst of the solar heat, they have fluidifying properties on bronchial phlegm.
There are also supplements that contain N-acetylcysteine, a derivative of the amino acid L-cysteine. Studies conducted on patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, highlight that the addition of N-Acetylcysteine to the conventional therapy, would have reduced the exacerbation of the symptomatologyThe natural remedies described above find valid confirmation in the daily clinical practice of an ever-increasing number of doctors.
