Raindragon Blog

Today we talk about Shiitake mushrooms. That does not mean it is the least important. It just presented them as I ran into them. Shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms (see previous blogs) are widely referred to as “medicinal mushrooms” due to their long history of medical use, particularly in oriental medicine traditions. The earliest written […]

Coriolus contains polysaccharide peptide (PSP) and polysaccharide-K (PSK, krestin), which may be able to fight tumor growth as well as boost the immune system. It is widely used in China and Japan in treating chronic and serious immune challenges. It provides a chemo protective defense to healthy cells while sensitizing cancerous cells. In Japan Krestin […]

Reference to this herb goes back thousands of years in Tibet, China and Japan. Because of its rarity it was reserved for use by the emperor and royalty. The literal translation of Dong chong xia cao is “winter bug summer herb” or “summer grass winter worm”. It was described as transforming from animal to plant and back […]

I’m sure your turkey carcass has long been decimated. Perhaps you’ve already made bone broth with it. What? No, you made turkey soup. Hate to inform you but you made bone broth if you used the bones in the pot. Here you thought this new latest trend was actually new. Nope. Been doing it for […]

Yin qiao san is a bigger formula than Yu ping feng san. I will discuss a bit about all of the herbs and  explain a little about how an herbal formula is created in Chinese medicine. This formula is used to treat Wind/Heat as most of the herbs are cooling. But any formula will have a […]

A lot of people has been asking about this lately. The office shared this on the office website but I wanted you to see it here again. There is commercial preparation of turmeric -Meriva – that research shows to be much better absorbed than the natural ground option. It is more expensive than any other […]

Well now we get to talk about the ‘Letting Go’ organ – Large Intestine. When we talk about letting go we are not only talking about removing waste from our physical bod y but also the toxic stuff that has collected in our spirits and mind. Not everyone is blessed with a happy-go-lucky childhood. There […]

No I’m not talking about the old pipe organ in the skating rink or the Wurlitzer you may have had in your living room. In Chinese medicine we are connected in body, mind and spirit to everything. The season we are connected to right now is Fall or Autumn. You can feel the impact of […]

“To everything there is a season….” We are deep into autumn now. In Chinese medicine this is the season of letting go.  Most of the brilliant leaves have fallen off the trees. Even in the Northwest things are starting to look a bit barren. What was a bright splash of their last glory is now […]