I have worked with many women suffering from painful periods. The stabbing pain (hypochondrial, abdominal, etc) felt either before, during, or after is a clear indication of Blood stagnation. This can be verified by noting the addition of a couple of the following symptoms: dark-colored menstrual Blood, dark-clotted Blood, purple nails, purple lips, purple tongue, dark sublingual veins, and a wiry, choppy pulse.

In TCM to alleviate the pain, we would use herbs to move Blood along w/other herbs in an appropriate formula. (Please consult a qualified herbalist).

One food that has an affinity for the uterus and moves Blood is eggplant.

TCM

Taste: Sweet
Temperature: Slightly cold
Direction: Downward
Organs: Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen

Moves Blood, relieves pain, clears Heat, cools Blood, reduces swelling, activates Qi and Blood in the Lower Burner

Nutrition Note:

Vitamin C, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, alkaloids
Contains vitamin P which can prevent hardening of Blood vessels
Contains solanine in its skin which is a calcium inhibitor and may also aggravate arthritis

How to enjoy: steam, roast, grill, stew, make dip, juice or wine infusion

Benefits Uses:

🍆Abdominal pain

🍆Stomatitis: bake peel from fresh eggplant until v dark on outside but inside intact; mix w/honey chew like gum

🍆 Promotes urination: dehydrate and grind into a powder ¼ tsp

🍆 Painful urination

🍆 Blood in urine

🍆 Snakebites

🍆 Bee stings - use raw, slice open rub on the affected area

🍆 Diarrhea

🍆 Treats dysentery

🍆 Assists bowel motions

🍆 Hypertension

🍆 Skin ulcers

🍆 Skin eruptions: dehydrate and grind into a powder, mix w/sesame oil for external application

🍆 Canker sores

🍆 Toothache

🍆 Chronic cough: boil white eggplant in water and drink the soup w/honey

🍆 Mastitis

🍆 Carbuncles

🍆 Jaundice-type hepatitis: eat with rice for several days

🍆 Bloody stools due to Heat in Blood: steamed eggplant

🍆 Bloody stools due to Hemorrhoids: eggplant leaves boiled in water, drink water

🍆 Bloody stools due to Intestinal Wind: eggplant wine = toasted eggplants soaked in wine

🍆 Bleeding Hemorrhoids or difficult stools: steamed eggplant

🍆 Treating corns (clavus): raw juice topically

🍆 PID, ovarian cysts, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, uterine myomas

🍆 Chronic venereal infections

Special notes:

Due to its cold energy it stops Bleeding as well, it is therefore considered obstructive to some extent.
Overconsumption may harm the uterus because it moves Qi and Blood without tonification
Please avoid if you are sensitive to nightshades
Avoid in cold patterns

Simple Baba Ganoush recipe

1 medium eggplant
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup tahini
Clove or 2 of garlic - crushed and minced
1 Tbs olive oil
¼ cup fresh parsley
Turn the oven to 400 F.
Make several piercings with a knife and place in a shallow baking dish.
Tent with foil for about 45 minutes until tender.
Peel and discard skin taking care not to burn yourself.
Put the eggplant in a food processor to puree.
Add in the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, and parsley to just blend.
Place in a dish to serve. I like this at room temperature.

Other ingredients: tahini is cool (roasted seeds are warmer) and nourishes Blood, parsley is warm and stimulates digestion, lemon is cold and expels Heat, olive oil is cooling and moistening.

I’m often asked, “what can I take for my cold/flu,” and I always answer, “it depends.” Cold/flu symptoms change quickly, which means the herb(s) you use should too. We want symptoms to change for the better; however, a quick change can be for the worse if the wrong herb is used.

One part of a cold and the flu is mucus. Here are some helpful herbs to include in a well-balanced formula for a cold or the flu based on the color and texture of your mucus.

Today I’m sharing herbs primarily for clear to white mucus that is either profuse or little amounts and/or difficult to expectorate.

𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝘂𝘀 = 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 + 𝘄𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Thyme - antiviral, diaphoretic, expectorant, antiseptic, antifungal, drys sinuses, rich in essential oil thymol = antibacterial

Ginger- anti-inflammatory, expectorant, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, transforms Phlegm

Purple Perilla Seed - anti-inflammatory, antitussive, antiseptic, transforms Cold-Phlegm

Osha- antibacterial, expectorant, antiviral, diaphoretic as well as a bronchodilator, transforms Phlegm, stops cough, and clears toxins ** this is a very drying herb

Orange Peel - drying, and has a pleasant flavor

Angelica arc. - diaphoretic, expectorant, anxiolytic, analgesic, releases the exterior, warms and transforms Phlegm

Yerba Santa - expectorant, antispasmodic, transforms Cold Phlegm, stops cough

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝘂𝘀 (𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲) + 𝗱𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Licorice- neutral in property it may be used Cold or Heat type colds, with or without Phlegm, anti-inflammatory, demulcent, antispasmodic, antitussive, dispels Phlegm, relieves soreness, swelling, and pain in the throat, harmonizes other herbs in a formula, excellent for a dry cough

Slippery Elm - expectorant, antitussive, inflammation of all mucous membranes, clears Heat toxins, dry throat, dry cough, slippery elm gruel is excellent as a nutritive when there is upset stomach and it is difficult to keep food down.

Spikenard Root - fresh root - expectorant, antibacterial, antiviral, alterative, antiseptic, warming and moistening, for tough, stringy mucus (David Winston)

Lily Bulb - slightly cool but moistening, antitussive, expectorant, demulcent; I often put lily bulb in my drinking water when I have a dry throat

Solomon Seal - tonifies without stagnating, moistens the Lungs, good for non-productive dry cough, or dry cough with sticky sputum, and dry mouth and throat.

Tips:

Ginger and orange peel mix great together and children find that taste appealing.

From Micheal and Lesley Tierra: slippery elm gruel:
Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of boiling water to 1 tablespoon of powdered slippery elm bark in a small bowl. slowly stir to make a paste. Add honey or maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon for flavor.