Understanding the Chinese medicinal terms Part 2

P o i s o n o u s  prawns ???? Did I miss something ? Or do I need a hearing aid ? If it is poisonous why are you cooking it and serving it on dinner table ?! Mom , are you trying to kill all of us to claim insurance benefit ?!! 

Ok calm down . The word poisonous is a direct translation of the word [ 毒 ] if you can't read it as it is typed in Chinese , it is  a word they use for poison in Chinese language . The term is literally or maybe mostly use to describe seafood . Arkshells are poisonous , prawns are poisonous and crabs sometimes . But shark fins are not . All of them that comes the same generation that would use the term 'poisonous' would think we are a nut job not to eat shark fins because we are against cruelty and trying to protect that sea creature . In their world shark fins are like top of medicinal food , they are good for skin , hair , energy bla bla bla and expensive things must be good .

They would say avoid poisonous things when you have chicken pox , an open wound . So my understanding of it simply relates to histamine release. The poisonous food group are usually the type of food that causes hypersensitivity in the general population . Sea shells allergy and peanut allergy for instance . Yes peanut is very poisonous they say . And so when you have an skin infections and eczema prone skin , allergic reaction happens easily with seafood as in this region or place where we live , sanitation is not perfect , so the seafood's cleanliness is not top notch . The possibility of allergic / histamine release is high after you eat those food mention and itchiness (scratch and scratch ) would worsen the broken wound , leading to skin infection . Here you go , when you get puss oozing out of your wound , mom will go : because you have poison in your body ! Now you need to wash your blood (????with detergent ) with burdock root soup .

Oh hemm gee . 

The understanding of Chinese medical terms

B e i n g  brought up in an Asian family , super traditionally I was fed with all the false ideation of 'heaty' , 'coldish' or 'poisonous' terms about foods . So I start telling my mates in university about them , and they would think I am a nut job and laugh the hell out of me . Well I suppose there is nothing wrong with that as Asian would laugh the hell out of them when they wear their shoes into the house and eat only sweet breakfasts . There is no right or wrong just different upbringing. 

Let's talk about the terms . 

'Heaty' is use mostly on fried food or high carbohydrate things . For instance deep fried banana fritters , KFC , French fries  and durian , medjools , banana , rambutan and mangosteens. My mom would go , drink more water after you have eaten all the 'heaty' stuff . I would go like what heaty rambutan? You mean you heat the rambutan in the microwave and now it's burning and the water helps put out the fire like an fire engine ? ? ? Mom would be like : aiyooo ! If not you will have sore throat Tomorrow . How did she guess ? But she is right sometimes . So I learn to think scientifically and would question some hypothesis . So let's say if I have fried chicken in Iceland in winter ? Is it still 'heaty' ? The answer is yes and no . Basically I have come to a conclusion about 'heaty' , I would say what it really means are high caloric food that are high in energy . The reason being heaty is that with high caloric intake , if you do not utilize or burn off the calorie by increasing the activity , your body's normal energy equilibrium will be disrupted . When things are not balance , your body would fall sick . Water helps bring body temperature down and increasing the metabolism so the calorie is burn off faster , giving the right equilibrium back to the body . 

So when your body's energy equilibrium is off balance for a few days that's how you will fall sick as the bad bacteria starts to win over the low immunity . 

'Coldish' meaning things that are negative calorie , seaweed , celery , papaya or some call it paw paw , pineapple and grass jelly . These things generally makes you go to the toilet as they retain water and solve your constipations. So here comes what mom would say : avoid taking those when are pregnant or having your menstrual . They belief that the coldish things causes miscarriage and your vjj cramp up .  So i suppose it's ok to eat a lot of those if you are a guy ? Well let me explain the medical /scientific understanding of it . These things listed are all fibrous or contains high in sugar that will usually draw water into the bowel after consumption so the bowel movement maybe very strong and causes stomach cramping and slight diarrhea , so the uterus being very close to the stomach , if you get cramps during your menstrual  all the time the pain will be accentuated , and you really you can't really tell the cramps apart , they are all at the lower abdominal . Miscarriage is belief to happen when you eat them extensively and the diarrhea could be so bad that the early stage of pregnancy is unstable or attachment of fetus are not strong on the uterus lining , may fall off during a bad diarrhea episodes . But it's over exaggerated when said to avoid TOTALLY before menstrual and pregnancy . But I do understand the Asian customers , when they ask you for advice on what to avoid eating during certain ailment if you laugh it off and say nothing to avoid , they would really think you know nothing and not good enough in your medical judgement . Yes we are paranoid and kiasu ( you can google this word of you don't know the meaning of it ) . So if you don't like to be taken that way then answer them firmly by saying EAT less of grass jelly and pineapple before the menstrual is due . Asian love talking about the minor problems they have over dinner , then your words will be pass on during family gathering and the older ladies on the table would think : hey this pharmacist is good, she knows her stuff let's go to her shop !! 

Win win situation . 

If you think you don't buy the whole silly concept, then you may want to move working as a pharmacist or doctor in anywhere else but Asia , that would be my biggest dream . 

Fart or live without milk

R o o m i e  farts extensively . She says she would record it and send it to her boyfriend on whatsapp ( don't tell me I need to explain what is whatsapp ok ? ) . Ewwwwww right ? She is weird sometimes but most importantly I find her my biggest entertainment source . And she goes like : I don't actually do it  , I just wanted to see your reaction LOL  yea I do trust people too easily , crap ! 

The gasses are not pungent but just extensively a lot . So being a pharmacist I start studying her diet patterns and found out what was wrong with her bowel . She takes probiotic so it can't be constipation or flora problem . It happens later in the day usually which I also figure out why because she skips breakfast everyday . After watching her for weeks I finalize she is lactose intolerance . I told her about it and she went : shoossh no way ! 

Being ignorant is usually the first thing everyone does when they get diagnose with something . Lactose intolerant is particularly common among Asians .the body produces lactase but as you grow older or take lesser dairy product day by day in your adulthood , the body stops producing the enzyme in large amount because your body only do what it needs to ( so you eat less milk,  they produce less lactase ) , some people will stop production completely .  How do we treat lactose intolerance ? Easy . Take lactase. Mostly manufactured in the USA and sadly to announce we don't have it in Malaysia . Terrible drugs formulary we have , I know . Get it from Singapore if you live in Malaysia . If not online pharmacy is not such a bad option . 

But roomie screams and yell saying drugs have side effects so I went : live without milk . Let me start with the list of food to avoid , now listen attentively . Pitzahhhhh 🍕🍕🍕 ( she looks ok ) , ice cream ( I saw frown line between eyebrows) , cheesecake and cheeseburger ( she looks as if she is going to cry ) and .... She then disrupted my sentence and go : chocolates ?🍫🍫 i answered : only dark ones  ( her face turned blue ) . 

Latte, ice chocolates , Oreo milkshakes ( she begins to walk away ) ...so I yell MILO AS WELL  . She called out loud from the toilet : buy me lactase ! 

I crack up . 

Let the hang be over

 

D r u g  and drink is not all wrong . When I say drug here is the liver tonic supplements and not any street drugs . Seriously do not mix street drugs with alcohol, I am not kidding *stare* .. Urmm I guess not enough *change to glare* 

People die from drug cocktail. Period. 

Drinking can be harmless if you do it right. Red wine is loaded with flavonoids , good antioxidant that reduce the narrowing of the arteries and helps bring down the risk of stroke . Beer is a buddy when you have it with pizza and cheesy chips , nothing compares to this combo *sinead o'connor 's record of the year starts playing* .. Ooh even a better combo watching Bridget jones diary blockbuster on tele  LOL 

Well let's get to the point , hang over is no fun ,the total opposite from the above But many of them still overdo their drinks and ended up 'zombie walking' into the pharmacy the next morning wanting quick remedy . Me on the other hand would wish you should learn your lesson , and start selling you plenty anti vomiting and pain relievers , the most expensive ones of all brands so you won't do it again . Well , sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind *social / work responsibilities exempted* in this case .

Milk thistle ( pronounce as tis-sel ) second T is silent as how you would pronounce castle . The scientific name is hilarious , I did a presentation on this back in school days and I blew my presentation because of it I laughed for longer than expected do the time too long for my presentation , silly me. It is silybum herb LOL ROFL get up from floor then LOL LOL now I can do it at my own pase , yay! 

Milk thistle detoxify toxins in the liver .Helping it detoxify faster and more efficiently . So with the right hydration during the drinking session and this would really make a difference the next morning . Take a full on 300mg in 3 different dose 2 days before and during the big night and the next day (if you can ), your liver will thank you for it . 

If you are a long term drinker , as in regular drinking 3-4 times a week and been doing it for more than 2 years, I suggest taking liver phospholipids instead of milk thistle . When milk thistle taken in low dose regularly / daily for a year ,I found that it disturbs my sleeps . This could be individual , but because the liver is an important organ doing all the detoxification , anything you eat or drink could have an amplified or minimize effect with this herbs . 

If you have cirrhosis or hepatitis or taking any medication metabolize my the liver , I suggest speaking to your doctor before starting milk thistle for long term . 

Ps : check out my Instagram @druggqueen for tips managing your hang over if you did not do your preparation before the big night