The Wonderful Wild Plantain - The Herb You Already Have In Your Garden

I am sure you have seen this herb in your garden. When we humans have a use for the leaves and parts of a tree or shrub, we call them herbs.

When we don't know what they are good for, we call them weeds. I mean, think about it. That's how we think about plants and shrubs in our gardens.

Today, I want to introduce a weed turned herb to you because I have definitely seen this in my garden. I have just not known its efficacy until I bought a packet of dried wild plantain leaves! I must have been a herbalist in my last life or past life. I keep gravitating towards herbs and plants. If I had an ache or pain, the first place I would go to is my garden.

Is there a herb that I could use? Is there a plant that I could find?

I would never eat Panadol or antibiotics. I have never eaten these in the past 20 years. I kid you not. I don't like medicines now that I know how harmful they can be to your kidneys over a long term basis.

When I was in Manila two weeks ago for a conference, I had a Filipino roommate. She was a professor at their local, private university and she was sharing with me her aches and pains. She was taking different medicines for different health problems. She had to wake up three times in the night to pee due to the medication she was taking. She never did have a good night's sleep (and I slept off like a log the entire night).

She couldn't believe it when I told her that I don't take supplements nor medications and that I take cold water showers in the morning and that I don't sleep in air-conditioned rooms (that's why staying in hotels is not preferable for me as the aircond tends to be too cold and drying). Of course, I didn't explain that I also only drink warm or hot drinks - cold drinks is not on my list unless I have no choice.

In addition, it's also my daily spiritual Mudita practice but I didn't go into specifics because it is hard enough for me to explain what it is that I am practising. (As an aside, Nic now conducts Mudita workshops and consultations since there has been such demand for his spiritual work.)

Health is a lifestyle matter and most people these days suffer from rich people problems especially if they're middle-class, fairly well-to-do and imbibe too many indulgent foods.

But health is also a spiritual matter which I tried to explain to her and I don't know how much of it she understood. Anyway, yes, I don't eat stuff that I cannot recognize. And I love my teas which I introduced to her and even gave her two packets of Hor Yan Hor! She promised she would try the herbal tea and I emphatically mentioned that I never travel without my packets of Hor Yan Hor teas.

So today's tea is simple - it's a dried herb called Wild Plantain which can be found growing wild as weeds in most gardens or fields. I brewed a handful of the dried herb in a pot of water, simmered it for 5 minutes and let it rest before drinking it warm. Wild Plantain has a host of medicinal benefits and you can easily buy the herb online. It's relatively cheap too. While the packet didn't indicate how much to brew, I just used a handful for two persons.

Wild Plantain or Che Qian Zi has these benefits from a TCM perspective: it drains dampness and promotes urination, it heals damp heat and difficulty in urination, it stops diarrhea and solidifies stools, it clears the eyes due to liver heat, dry eyes, swollen eyes and it clears lung heat, dissolves phlegm, stops coughing and helps in expelling sputum.

It also balances blood sugar and promotes wound healing. Fresh leaves can also be applied directly to wounds, bites and rash. In Western herbalism, the leaves are infused in oil for weeks and used for wounds and skin conditions. If you melt beeswax into the infused oil and let it cool, you will get a salve that you can use for wounds too.

It is rich in Magnesium, Vitamin A, C and K, Tannin, Allantoin, Calcium, Apigenin, Aucubin, Linoleic acid, Oleanolic acid, Sorbitol, Baicalein, Mucilage, Flavonoids, Minerals, according to this website.

Plantain is a source of food for birds and butterflies. So this multi-use plant is truly amazing. As it grows like a weed in vacant lots and gardens, make sure you keep an eye out for this herb when you go on your walks!

Goji Berry, Chrysanthemum & Red Date Tea

I've been making this simple tea for a few times already. Not sure if I had shared this before but all it needs are 3 ingredients - dried goji berries, dried red dates and dried chrysanthemum bulbs. This sugar-less concoction is good for health especially if you want to maintain immunity. It's even more important these days what with the pandemic and Covid-19. But it is also a pleasant brew - no boiling needed. All you need is a handful of goji berries (washed and soaked for 5 minutes in water), 3-5 large dried red dates and a teaspoon of dried chrysanthemum flowers (these are the small heads of flowers, not the usual type for making chrysanthemum tea). Put all the ingredients in a teapot and pour in boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and voila, you have made yourself a healthy tea without sugar. It has a natural sweetness from the red dates and goji berries. And once you have drunk all the tea, you can continue adding more boiling water for a second b...

The Remarkable Nut of Nuts

In this recipe, walnuts and dried red dates are combined to make a healthy and life-giving dessert. And with honey added, it packs a punch. A truly simple dessert which is used to prevent the usual flu magnets - colds and coughs. It helps too with your kidneys and with bowel movement. Walnuts are much revered in Chinese medicine, not least because the nut resembles the brain! Again, the Chinese believe that walnuts are good snacks for children as they help boost brain power which is true because of the high amounts of Omega 3 fats (good for the brain). Walnuts are of course a good source of essential omega-3 fatty acids and in Roman times, considered the food of the gods. Walnuts are a 'yang' tonic and useful for toning up weak kidneys. It also warms lung Qi while acting as a laxative, moistening the intestines (hence encouraging bowel movement if you are constipated). Walnuts are called Hu Tao Ren (juglans regia) in Chinese medicine. Walnut & Red Date Dessert 150 gm walnut...

Corn Silk That You Should Never Throw Away

The next time you buy fresh corn still in its husk, you should never throw away the corn silk. Most people throw away the husk and silk, thinking that they're useless but I can tell you, corn silk is great for your body. Save the corn silk to make a healthy tea. Just place all the silk into a pot, cover with 500ml of water and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Turn off the heat and pour yourself a steaming cup of sweetish corn silk tea that tastes a little like corn. Corn silk or Yu Mi Xu is a natural corn fibre that is also used in Native American medicine. It contains flavonoids that give corn silks their colour and have antioxidant properties. I t is considered an important medicinal plant, able to induce diuresis and excrete dampness according to TCM. Corn silk is helpful towards Kidney, Bladder, Liver and Gall Bladder. meridians Therefore it clears damp heat, bloating, rheumatism, skin eruptions, gout, wasting and thirsting disorder, hepatitis, cholelithiasis, ch...

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