Chinese Beer Therapy

I'm interested in all things natural, holistic, alternative, and effective when it comes to living the High Life. When it comes to medicine, I think old remedies have fallen off the shelves to make way for dark green dreamy concoctions and bright orange rocket fuels to keep your cold and flu symptoms at bay. But I never feel quite right after I come down off the 'tussin trip.

So, I turn back to the ancient Chinese secret of food therapy. Not really a secret, Chinese Food Therapy echoes into today's more natural lifestyles and has deep ties to grandma's old-school remedies like hot chicken soup, hot teas, or lemon juice and honey shots.

Recently struck with a cold, I decided to give myself a refresher on what would help me balance my Yin and Yang to get over this illness in a hurry.

Looking through the list of food characteristics, Cold-Cool-Neutral-Warm-Hot, I found one site that puts beer right there in the "cool" section. Cool!

The "Cool" foods are supposed to help tone down fever, which is a symptom of what the Chinese Food Therapists refer to as Wind-Heat ailments. So I'm waiting for that tell-tale bead of sweat to break on my forehead so I can run, er, feebly shuffle down to the fridge and pop a Beck's Oktoberfest.

It's Chinese Beer Therapy. Doctor's orders.