In oriental medicine SOIL-EARTH is the element


STOMACH, SPLEEN AND PANCREAS

(The three organs work together)
Late summer is the season when the energy of these organs becomes more active.


COLOR: orange, deep yellow and brown
BODY FLUIDS: saliva
PARTS OF THE BODY: knees and elbows
ORGAN: mouth
SENSITIVITY: taste
SYSTEM: lymph
TISSUE: flesh
FLAVOR: sweet
GRAIN: millet
BEANS: chick peas
VEGETABLES: winter squash
FRUIT: very sweet
ANIMAL FOOD: Sword fish, Tuna, Pheasant

MOODS:

  • POSITIVE: imagination, trusting, sympathy, encouraging
  • NEGATIVE: worry, skeptical, cynical, doubtful, jealousy

STOMACH


The entire body depends upon the functioning of the stomach for its nourishment.

This organ does not like dryness it prefers moisture.

Eating, exercising and body heat effect the meridian of this organ.

The color of the lips, eyelids and the muscles indicate the condition of the stomach.

(the muscles of the breast, ovaries, esophagus, fatty tissues and the arms and legs).

DISORDERS of the Stomach:

  • Too much acidity will corrode the stomach walls
  • Ulcers are caused by excessive gastric secretions
  • Too little gastric juices will increase the growth of bacteria that may cause irritation of the stomach walls. This condition may produce too much mucous throughout the entire system. This decrease in digestion strength and the ability to assimilate food properly, further increases the production of mucus.
  • The condition we call heart-burn is another problem of the stomach that is caused by gas in the funding region

IMBALANCES of the Stomach are indicated by:

  • The person affected becomes overly conscious of the stomach and the food chosen is influenced by the mood. and appetite
  • Tension gets built up in the neck and shoulders and arises a tendency to worry about minor details
  • The legs feel heavy and get cold below the knees
  • Feeling tired all the time and often yawning
  • Belching a lot after eating, hyper-acidity and tension in the stomach region
  • Pain around the heart which is caused when the pit of the stomach becomes too hard and puts pressure on the heart
  • Inflammation of the stomach lining which can cause sores in the corner of the mouth and along the stomach meridian

SPLEEN


The spleen is the principal organ of digestion. Spleen health is associated with the ability to taste food and its condition is indicated in the color and texture of the lips.

This organ dislikes dampness and prefers dryness

DISORDERS of the Spleen

  • Pain and abdominal distention, absence or irregular menstrual cycle, diarrhea, constipation, dysentery, frequency of urination and/or incontinence
  • Insomnia and mental disorders
  • Difficult breathing, pain in the chest
  • Impotence, frigidity
  • Weakness/numbness/chilling of the legs and knees, pain in the ankles and feet, inflammation and paralysis of the big toe

The center of the spleen meridian is in the Pancreas and includes the functions of all the organs that secrete digestive enzymes such as: the stomach, gall bladder, small intestine, mouth, reproductive organs, glands and the cerebral cortex.

SINCE FACTS ARE DIGESTED BY THINKING

Too much thinking and lack of exercise causes a reduction of digestive juices which results in poor digestion

MOOD

Positive: imagination, sympathy
Negative: worry

IMBALANCES in the spleen give rise to the following:

  • A tendency to worry and thinking too much
  • Craving food and feeling hungry all the time, eating quickly and in between meals
  • Feeling restless
  • Do not like to exercise
  • Love for sweets & high liquid content
  • Wanting to take frequent naps, due to lacking gastric juices.
  • Dry mouth
  • Pain in the back of the knees
  • Difficulty in standing or sitting
  • Distortion of the joints

EXCESSIVE ENERGY IN THE SPLEEN MERIDIAN

is caused by not chewing food well and consequently, not digesting properly, so there is a lack of perseverance to thoroughly assimilate things.


PANCREAS


The pancreas is an organ of secretion that produces pancreatic juices that are mildly alkaline as well as hormones and insulin.

DISORDERS of the pancreas

  • Hypoglycemia
  • Diabetes
  • Pancreatitis

HYPOGLYCEMIA or low blood sugar:

Blood sugar levels are too low when insulin secretion is not constant, the pancreas is producing too much insulin, or the liver is too weak to accomplish its work. This condition is the result of eating too many simple carbohydrates (refined flour and sugar).

Hypoglycemia leads to constant cravings of yin food such as sweets, candies, alcohol and coffee.

Eating heavy baked oily desserts drops the blood sugar

Hypoglycemia is a precursor to diabetes

DIABETES:

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas is not able to produce insulin in adequate quantities or the system is unable to absorb the right amount of insulin. Blood sugar tends to get too high and close to danger levels, and fat and protein break down and enter the blood stream. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes; and

Type 2, also called adult onset diabetes.

Dr. Klaus Schwartz, MD. Phd, conducted a lifetime of research and in his studies discovered that Chromium is a very important factor in the human body, because it is also essential in regulating the blood sugar metabolism.

According to Dr. Schwartz, chromium is present in whole grains, but almost all of it is depleted in the refining process of flour products. It has an accumulative effect in that, the body is able to store it. We also get plenty from our mother at birth, if she has a good reserve herself. The problem is that, in the last few hundred years or so, fewer and fewer people eat a whole grain diet. So even at birth, we are getting lower amounts of chromium in the body to start with. Research seems to indicate that this may lead to an increase in the incidence of diabetes among younger people. Years ago, many people lived to 60 or 70 years of age before they exhibited signs of diabetes.  Today, it is common to see people with this condition in their 40's. In fact, the adult onset of diabetes is even beginning to appear in children 5-10 years old.

PANCREATITIS:

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas.

Acute pancreatitis occurs suddenly and last for a short period of time, usually resolves.

Pancreatitis occurs when the body is attempting to burn away accumulations in the system caused by a diet of excesses. The body wants to clean up before the condition becomes serious.

Chronic pancreatitis does not resolve and result in a slow destruction of the pancreas.

The cause is drinking to much alcohol and/or a diet of excesses.

It is common for the pancreas to grow tumors benign or malign.

Early Autumn

"In this time of the year energy starts to go down until becomes very condensed by late autumn.

To get our body to become used to the colder weather we need to begin to adjust our diet by including in our meals root vegetables and squashes.

The products of the earth during this time of the year are beautiful in colors and have some natural preservatives quality and can be stored for several months.

We have to adjust our cooking by introducing more rich tastes and styles, with longer cooking time, such as bean stews, sweet rice and mochi, hot amasake and purèed squash soups.

The food we enjoy in cooler weather, such as tempura, fermented foods and long-cooked stews and soups with root vegetables and squashes produces a warming effect on the body."


Squash and root vegetable pureed soup

Ingredients

  • 1 medium butternut squash

  • ½ medium Kabocha squash

  • 1 large yellow onion cut into chunks

  • 3 carrots cut into rounds

  • 1 parsnip cut into rounds

  • 1 medium butternut squash
squash soup

Preparation

Cut the squashes in ½ and remove the seeds, cut them up, remove the skin of the Kabocha. Cut the pulp into chunks and place into a soup pot, add all the other vegetables. Add enough water to cover the vegetables, Cook until are soft to the touch, ½ hour or more. Remove from heat, put all the ingredients in a food processor, retaining some of the water, process until creamy, add liquid as needed for the right consistency. Return the puree in the pot add a few pinches of sea salt. Stir, adjust the salt. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes stirring often. Serve.


Sushi California Style

Ingredients

  • 2 cups brown rice

  • 1/4 cup sweet brown rice

  • 1 sheet of nori sea vegetable

  • Few blanched carrots cut in long sticks

  • 1 peeled cucumber cut in long sticks

  • 1 avocado peeled and cut in long pieces

  • 1 cup toasted sesame seeds

  • Umeboshi paste

  • Spring water
SUSHI

Preparation

Cook rice in 4 cups of spring water for 45 minutes, let it cool down. Cut the sheet of nori in half. Put one piece each of carrot, cucumber and avocado in it and roll the nori around it using a sushi mat. Continue to roll the nori sheet until all the vegetables are finished. When the rice is cool, wet the sushi mat in water and put it on a cutting board. With wet hands, put rice in the sushi mat in a thin layer, but only cover one half of the mat. Then, with the fingers spread a small portion of umeboshi plum paste in the center of the rice, along the part where the nori roll will be placed. Roll the sushi mat in a way so the rice covers the entire nori. Press with the hands the rolled up sushi mat and fix the end pieces. Unroll the mat. You will have a little tube of rice. Roll it in a plate covered with the sesame seeds. Cut into one inch pieces using a very sharp knife. Serve.


Blanched Vegetables

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of broccoli cut into medium size pieces

  • 10 or 15 Brussels sprouts

  • 3 carrots cut into long strips

  • 3″ piece of Kombu
 

Preparation

Boil spring water in a pot, put a 3" long piece of Kombu sea vegetable into the pot, cook 5 minutes and then remove it. Put the broccoli into the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon. Put the brussel sprouts into the boiling water, let them cook until a fork goes through them easily, but not mushy. Remove them and return the water to a boil. Put the carrots in and cook for 1 -2 minutes after the water comes back to a boil. Serve.


Pressed Salad

Ingredients

  • ½ head of red leaf lettuce

  • A small bunch of Arugola

  • A small bunch of red radishes (with leaves if possible)

  • 1 cucumber

  • Sea salt

  • Umeboshi vinegar
salad

Preparation

Break up the leafy vegetables with your hands. Cut the radishes into thin rounds. Cut the cucumber in half, remove the seeds with a small spoon, slice very thin. Place everything into a bowl, add a few pinches of salt to taste, and mix well. Cover bowl with a smaller flat dish, and place a weighted object (heavy jar, rock, etc.) on top of the plate to press the salad mixture. Let it stand for at least one to two hours. When ready to serve, add one tablespoon of umeboshi vinegar diluted in a little water. mix well and serve.


Steamed Collard Greens

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of collard greens

  • A bamboo steamer

  • Spring water

  • Shoyu soy sauce
Steamed Collard Green

Preparation

Cut the green leaf along the middle line, removing the hard stem, stack the cut leaves up on each other facing the same direction. When you have a good size pile, cut leaves in diagonal thin strips going along the leaf veins. Bring the water to a rolling boil to generate a good amount of steam Place the cut collards in the steamer. Cook for 3 minutes, add shoyu on the greens, continue to cook one more minute and Serve.


Creamy Fruit Dessert

Ingredients

  • 1 Container of fresh raspberries

  • 1 Pint of blueberries

  • 2 Apples peeled and diced

  • 2 Pears peeled and diced

  • 1 cup of apple juice or more

  • 1 or 2 Tbsp of Kuzu root

  • 2-4 Tbsp water
creamy fruit

Preparation

Bring apple juice to a boil then add the fruit and quickly return to a boil. Completely dissolve 1 tablesp. Kuzu in 2 tablsp. cold water and add to the fruit while stirring constantly. If the mixture is too thin, dissolve and add more Kuzu until desired thickness If it is too thick, add small amounts of apple juice until you get the right creamy consistency. Serve either warm or chilled.

 

WISDOM

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear; our presence automatically liberates others.

— Marianne Williamson

“The macrobiotic way of life recommended by the ancient wise people and practiced widely for physical, mental and spiritual development consists of the following arts; the way of eating, the way of breathing, and the way of daily life. Because a human being is part of his environment, and has evolved through biological development covering more than three billion years on this planet, his physical, mental and spiritual conditions are based upon what he consumes from his natural environment and his food. The way of eating is the most essential factor for his development.”

Michio Kushi, THE BOOK OF DO-IN (ISBN 0-87040-382-6)

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