3 Herbal Teas to Burn Fat, Enhance Immunity, Relieve Drawbacks of Being a Night Owl

3 Herbal Teas to Burn Fat, Enhance Immunity, Relieve Drawbacks of Being a Night Owl
(Shutterstock)
Amber Yang
JoJo Novaes
3/3/2023
Updated:
3/24/2023
0:00

Modern people often have diets high in oil and salt and tend to stay up late. These habits can increase the risk of suffering from the three “highs”—hypertension, high blood cholesterol, and high blood sugar—and cause damage to the eyes and liver.

Dr. Huang Yixuan, a Chinese Medicine practitioner at Fu Yuan Chinese Medicine Clinic in Taiwan, introduces three types of tea to avoid the three highs, burn fat, remove excess heat caused by staying up late, and enhance immunity. With acupressure and diet, Huang helps you improve overall health in multiple ways.
The “three highs”—hypertension, high blood cholesterol, and high blood sugar—cause many life-threatening illnesses and also are indicators of cognitive impairment. A study published in the Journal of the Public Library of Science and Medicine in 2020 found that maintaining a good level of cardiovascular health in midlife, including good blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar level, can help reduce the risk of incident dementia.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) does not have a specific theory about the three highs—however, TCM considers stroke and dizziness symptoms of high blood pressure and high blood lipids, and thirst and hypoglycemia symptoms of high blood sugar.

A Tea to Burn Fat, Nourish the Liver, and Improve Eyesight

How to control the three highs? Huang said that TCM focuses on maintaining a healthy weight, a balanced diet, regular exercise, a peaceful mood, not smoking, and properly distributing time for work and rest.

The TCM classic “General Treatise on Causes and Manifestations of All Diseases” mention many exercise methods to maintain health. For example, stroke patients can stand with their backs against a wall and channel the qi inside the body through their minds, which can help unblock the stroke area. Diabetes patients can practice abdominal breathing and tai chi, which produce significant health effects. Having fat-burning tea after a heavy meal can clean the stomach and intestines and reduce greasiness.

Ingredients:

Hawthorn, Rosselle, and cassia seeds

Hawthorn reduces food stagnation, activates blood circulation, and removes blood stasis. It is often used to strengthen the stomach and intestines and promote digestion. According to Chinese legend, Pu Yi, the last emperor of China and the final Qing dynasty monarch, usually took hawthorn pills to adjust the symptoms of indigestion, such as food stagnation.

In TCM, hawthorn is used in the prescriptions of the Harmony-Preserving Pill and Spleen-Fortifying Pill to treat patients who have poor bowel movements and low food intake. Raw hawthorn expels blood stasis, which can reduce menstrual pain in women with blood stasis, stasis in the lower abdomen after childbirth.

Rosselle can relieve thirst, and lower blood lipid and blood pressure.

Cassia seeds can nourish the liver and improve eyesight. It also has a laxative effect on constipation caused by eating baked, fried, and spicy foods.

(The Epoch Times)
(The Epoch Times)

Tips and Acupressure for Night Owls

Staying up late can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythms and confuse the endocrine system, which will lead to dysautonomia (a disorder of the autonomous nervous system) over time. When the body is exposed to light for a longer time, melatonin production will decrease. This affects sleep quality and can cause irritability, lack of concentration, tinnitus and dizziness, dry mouth, and sore eyes.

Huang suggests that night owls have more water and get up often to stretch their muscles and bones, which can help metabolize waste. Take vitamin B supplements as staying up late will consume vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Have a light diet, avoid grilled, fried, and spicy foods, and have congee (a type of rice porridge) in the morning. Napping at noon or closing your eyes for a few moments are effective remedies.

Those who stay up late often have bloodshot eyes and dry eyes. Massage the acupoints around the eyes: Bright Eyes (BL 1), Bamboo Gathering (BL 2), Silk Bamboo Hole (TH 23), and Sun (Ex-HN 5). Most importantly, take an eye break after gazing at something close for a while.

(The Epoch Times)
(The Epoch Times)

Herbal Wellness Tea for Night Owls

Ingredients:

American ginseng, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, goji

American ginseng can nourish the qi, help clear heat, and reduce internal heat, often caused by staying up all night and having a dry mouth.

Honeysuckle is cold in nature, making it an effective remedy for clearing heat and detoxifying the body. It is said that when Empress Dowager Cixi did not sleep well and her breath was heavy the next day, her palace maid would brew a pot of honeysuckle tea for her.

Traditional Chinese medicine found that most foods have a “cold” or “hot” nature. Food with a cold nature can bring your body temperature down, and food with a hot nature can warm your body. Therefore, you can balance your body through cold and hot foods.

Chrysanthemum can clear the liver, brighten the eyes, and dispel heat.

Goji can nourish the liver and kidneys, improve vision, and relieve symptoms of eye redness and pressure.

(The Epoch Times)
(The Epoch Times)

A Balanced Diet for Enhancing Immunity

Enhancing immunity is critically important in the face of the ongoing COVID pandemic. Huang emphasized that a balanced diet is the most effective method.
For tips on how to eat more healthily, you can refer to the “traffic light diet,” a diet proposed by Leonard H. Epstein, an expert in childhood overweight in 1978.

“Green light” foods are the foods you can eat as much as you want—including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seafood, plant-based proteins like beans and nuts, and low-fat meats.

“Yellow light” foods are those you can eat daily but in moderation—including wine, full-fat dairy products, sugary beverages, and red meat.

“Red light” foods are ones to avoid—such as cookies and pastries, as they contain trans fats. These foods are processed and cooked at high temperatures, producing free radicals, which will attack the body’s immune cells. Therefore, to enhance your immunity, you should avoid these foods.

When Is the Most Appropriate Time to Eat?

Traditional Chinese Medicine has discovered that the human body has a “meridian” system, which is responsible for transporting “qi” and “blood” throughout the body, Qi and blood are the basic substances that make up the body and maintain its vital activities.

According to TCM, the 12 hours of the day (an hour is two hours today) correspond to the 12 major meridians of the human body. The qi and blood on particular meridians will be active during each hour, thus the organs under the control of that meridian will be more active. For example, the stomach meridian is on duty from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. This is the ideal time to have breakfast. At 3 p.m., however, the digestion function of the stomach and intestines becomes weak, so dinner should be light and easy to digest.

Huang stressed that to enhance immunity, you should eat more fish, lean meat, and other high-quality protein, choose vitamin B complex and mineral-rich whole grains and cereals, and eat more fruits and vegetables to replenish vitamin and antioxidant polyphenols.

​(The Epoch Times)
​(The Epoch Times)

Anti-Epidemic Vitality Tea

Huang recommends a drink that preserves vitality. This drink contains ginseng, astragalus, and licorice root to enhance the function of the spleen and stomach, allowing the body to absorb more nutrients. In addition, it is also anti-viral and can strengthen immunity and fight against viruses.
Ingredients:

Astragalus, atractylodes, windproof, cinnamon, peppermint, fishy grass

Astragalus, atractylodes, and windproof are used in Chinese herbal formulas to help people who are weak and prone to colds improve their resistance to illness.

Cinnamon has immunity-regulating and anti-viral effects.

Peppermint and fishy grass can fight against viruses, both of which are cold in nature, and together with the previous warm herbs, have the effect of balancing cold and warmth. Both are the main ingredients in the Chinese medicine “NRICM101” developed in Taiwan for preventing and treating COVID.

(The Epoch Times)
(The Epoch Times)

*Some herbs mentioned in this article may be unfamiliar, but they are generally available in Asian supermarkets.

Note: Because different people have different physiques, it is recommended to consult your doctor or TCM experts.
Amber Yang is a certified personal trainer. She met all the requirements of the American Council on Exercise to develop and implement personalized exercise programs. She worked as a marketing manager for natural skin care products for years and as a health and beauty reporter and editor for ten years. She is also the host and producer of the YouTube programs "Amber Running Green" and "Amber Health Interview."
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