Adventures in Traditional Chinese Medicine
I love Eight Treasure Porridge. Eat it daily and live long. Also, I am selling handmade block prints online! (Link to store at end of post)
A short poem about 8 Treasure Porridge
I love eight treasure porridge.
It gives me so much energy
Why are you eating dogshit American food
China wins again
China stays winning.
Two weeks ago, a Chinese AI product, Deepseek, wiped out 1.2 Trillion dollars in value from American tech stocks. Check it out.
For the tech-savvy, you can even run it locally using Ollama, which means no creepy tech company siphoning your data, and ruining the climate one query at a time. The popular claim is that, for every query you submit to ChatGPT, it burns the equivalent of 500ml of water.
So running your own chat assistant locally allows you to protect your data and leverage the power of Large Learning Models for writing tasks, knowledge management, and whatever else you were using ChatGPT for.
Also, say what you will about China, but the millennial home ownership rate is around ~80%.
As a country, China is absolutely dunking on the United States when it comes to home ownership, holding finance capital accountable, and affordable healthcare.
A Brief History of My Experience with TCM
This post is about my journey as a user of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), and how it has helped me, especially with my long-term and deep-seated clinical depression.
I am far from an expert on Traditional Chinese Medicine, but it has helped me a lot, in ways that Western medicine has failed me, or even hurt me and left lasting negative effects–Accutane and antidepressants probably being the most glaring example.
“User” of TCM seems like the wrong word. User is the word for people who use computers and smart devices.
As in, “The user puts the lotion or it gets the sponsored ad again.” (dumb internet joke)
Anyways, I would track my journey as a TCM user like this:
Ages 10-13: Did Martial arts as a kid. Chung Moo Doe. I was almost a black belt! One or two degrees away. One of my teachers was an extra on Walker, Texas Ranger. They called me Senator, I guess because I was a serious and conscientious 10 year-old. Chung Moo Doe was a pretty Americanized martial art. We wore gis and bowed.
Age 10: My mom and I attended a weird Tai Chi seminar. The “master” was a middle-aged white man who kept saying how his students could mow his lawn and paint his house instead of having to pay money for classes. I remember his beard hairs were coming out of his nose, or vice versa. At a certain point, we couldn’t take any more of this guys self-congratulatory sermon, and we practically ran out of the room laughing to ourselves.
Age 20: Neck hurt from practicing guitar and I went and saw a TCM practitioner in North Dallas. He practiced out of an apartment. He didn’t speak much English so it was hard to understand him. He told me to do a set of neck exercises that might have worked if I practiced them diligently. Still, there was something about the experience that intrigued me.
Age 23: Went to a “community acupuncture clinic” run by a middle-aged white couple in Austin. I remember it was next to a busy road. I remember sitting in a room with eight or so recliners, and falling asleep and waking up with my arms and legs full of acupuncture needles. I stopped going when I told them I thought there was something wrong with my sciatica from playing upright bass and they laughed in my face, which I thought was a strange response.
Ages 26-37: My first year in New York City, I had a friend named Severin. Severin was like the artful dodger, and sort of a cool, older brother figure to me. He would blow in from out of town and we would stay up until 6am smoking cigarettes and talking. He would give me books and old clothes. I told him about my depression and anxiety and he recommended Dr. Frank at Lin Sister. When I started going to Lin Sister in 2012, Dr. Frank didn’t speak much English. He took my pulse, asked to see my tongue, and asked about my bowel movements. He wrote prescriptions which I would describe as “weird little soup potions”. I grew to really enjoy tearing the little tea packets and mixing the herbs in boiling water every morning. It kind of helped my depression and anxiety? I think it did a little bit. I would go back and see Dr. Frank off and on until I left NYC in 2024.
Ages 33-39: In 2019, I moved to Upstate NY. I started seeing a TCM doctor named Dr. Grace Gao. Dr. Gao is awesome–highly recommend if you’re within driving distance of Albany, NY. Dr. Gao prescribed me these “Relaxx Plus Extract” “tea pills” that really, really helped with my anxiety and depression for a few years. The tea pills stopped helping me much in the past few years but I may try them again at some point. I try to make it a point to go see Dr. Gao once or twice a year.
Age 39: Been doing Tai Chi lately–I love it! I usually do my own movement routine that includes 4-5 Tai Chi exercises. Lots of squats and squatted exercises for cultivating kidney Qi. Sometimes I will Youtube, “Tai Chi class Winter” or whatever, based on the season. For instance, in the Winter, the Kidneys need to be nourished with more Qi. Recently I learned that, in Tai Chi, each season has an organ or organ system that needs to be nourished with the right food and Tai Chi movements.
One of my favorite TCM finds is “Eight Treasure Porridge”. Apparently, some Traditional Chinese Medicine masters eat it every day, and living into their 90’s or 100+!
What is Eight Treasure Porridge?
Eight Treasure Porridge is a mix of “the eight treasures” – essentially beans, grains, and dried fruits and such that are packed with nutrients and fiber.
It is also known as “Eight treasure congee” and “laba congee”. It is traditionally eaten in China during the Laba festival. The Laba festival happens on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month and is held to celebrate the enlightenment of the Buddha
The funny thing about Eight Treasure Porridge(abbreviated as “8TP” from here on) is that it doesn’t necessarily contain eight specific beans/grains/dried fruit. Rather, it is a mix of eight or so nutrient-dense porridge ingredients, as stated above.
I like to buy the prepackaged Wise Wife brand 8TP and add my own Jujubes, Mung beans, etc. I also make it with a “mixed grains” rice mix that they typically sell at East Asian specialty foods stores.
In any given Eight Treasure Porridge recipe, the eight treasures might include:
Mung bean - Protein, Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin C, and Folate.
Pearl barley - Good source of fiber. Contains iron.
Jujubes - Aka “Chinese Red Dates”. Low in calories and high in fiber. They also offer several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C and potassium.
Lotus seed - Antioxidants. Blood sugar regulation. A symbol of purity and renewal in Chinese culture.
Rice - Of course. You gotta have rice. The base of the porridge.
Goji berry - Antioxidants. Super food.
In Chinese terms, these foods are packed with Qi (pronounced, “chee”).
If you want to make Eight Treasure Porridge, the easiest way is to buy 3+ of these ingredients, rinse them in the sink, and then throw them in a pot or your rice cooker with some salt. I always like to add Jujubes if I have them! They are the fun part–like a little surprise each time you find one in your bowl.
Try eating it every day for a week and see how you feel! I like eating it for breakfast, as it’s a gentle way to break your fast, and gives you a nice dose of fiber and energy to start your day.
It’s All About Qi
In this section, I’m going to try and explain what Qi is because the concept of Qi has changed the way I think about my health and helped me view my own health as a garden to be cultivated, rather than the typical Western view that the body is a machine, composed of discrete parts and mechanisms.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qi is your life force.
Think of your body as a garden, and Qi is the overall health and fertility of your garden
You can cultivate Qi by eating healthy foods, exercising (walking and Tai Chi are great for Qi cultivation), meditation, trauma-release exercises, acupuncture, and probably at least a few other ways.
Per this excellent introductory post on “What Is Qi Energy?”, the following things diminish Qi:
Negative emotions
Physical tension
Improper living
Lack of integrity
Environmental factors
I’m not here to convince you Qi is real, but I do believe wholeheartedly in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and I believe Qi is a great concept and framework for understanding one’s own health, and keeping your body healthy.
If you’re interested in learning more about Qi and using Traditional Chinese Medicine to improve your health, I recommend going to an acupuncturist, or even better, a TCM doctor. I’ve also heard good things about Stephen T. Ching’s Self-Healing Book.
I’ve started reading Kenneth Cohen’s book, The Way of Qigong, and been enjoying it.
Trying to keep my posts shorter and publish more frequently so that’s all for this week!
Oh, I also opened up a store to sell my prints!
Here’s a short IG reel about my process.
You can see them and buy them here.
