Yin Yang Through Plants September 17 2017

"The National Heirloom Expo showcases the world's largest show of pure food diversity!" I feel so honored to be invited to speak at this exciting event.  In order to allow the audiences to fully experience the Asian herbs that were in my presentation, I decided an 8+ hour roadtrip to Petluma, CA was necessary to get the plants there safely.  At the end of the talk, everyone was welcomed to taste and experience all the edible plants I brought.

For those of you that missed my talk, here's what I've covered in my presentation:

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the philosophy of Yin and Yang is used to balance the body.

Yin: represents shade, cooling, calming nature
Yang: represents the sun, heat, aggressive nature

Vietnamese balance their food using the five fundamental tastes:
Sweet, salty, sour, spicy and bitter

These 5 tastes correlates with the 5 elements which represents the organs in the body:
Metal: spicy flavor benefiting the nose, lung, large intestine
Wood: sour flavor benefiting the liver, eye, gall bladder, veins
Water: salty flavor benefiting the ear, kidney, urinary, bladder
Fire: bitter flavor benefiting the tongue, small intestine, blood, heart
Earth: sweet flavor benefiting the mouth, stomach, muscle

	Gynura procumbens Other name: Longevity Spinach Nature: cool Origin: SE Asia, Thailand, Indonesia, West Africa Health benefits: promotes healthy range for blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.  Contains amino acids, carotenoids, alkaloids.  Promotes healthy weigh management, and healthy gut bacteria. Uses: leaves and tender stems are used in soups, salads, smoothies.
	Vietnamese Coriander Other name: Rau Ram, hot mint, Pericaria odorata Nature: warm Origin: SE Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand Health benefits: helps bones and bruises, lowers sex hormones, improve digestive issues such as diarrhea, stomach ache.  Contains anti-inflammatory. Uses: raw leaves and tender stems are used in salad, soup, stir fry rice vermicelli.
	Gotu kola Other name: Pennywort, Rau Ma, Herb of Wisdom Nature: cool Origin: Central Asia, parts of Africa, China, India, Vietnam Health benefits: benefits brain health, cognitive health, rejuvenating, includes wide range of vitamins and minerals, improve concentration, Benefits the nervous system, calming, manage anxiety, stress. Uses: raw leaves are used for juicing, leaves cooked in soups, leaves added to salads.
	Bacopa Other name: Bacopa monnieri, Rau Dang Bien Nature: cool Origin: wetlands of Africa, SE Asia, Australia Health benefits: benefits mental functioning, memory, comprehension.  Contains Bacosides properties, a powerful antioxidant in brain, improve nerve conduction, help to improve cognitive function. Uses: raw leaves are eaten raw, cooked in soup, add to salad.
	Rice Paddy Herb Other name: Rau Om, Hugging herb, Limnophila aromatic Nature: cool Origin: Vietnam, SE Asia, Malay, Indonesia, China, Cambodia, India Health benefits: benefits brain health, cognitive health, rejuvenating, includes wide range of vitamins and minerals, improve concentration, Benefits the nervous system, calming, manage anxiety, stress. Promotes fever relief, appetite stimulant, fever relief, appetite stimulant, antiseptic, regulate female hormone indigestion Uses: raw leaves are used for juicing, leaves cooked in soups, leaves added to salads.

	Perilla Other name: Tia To, Perilla frutescens, Shiso, purple mint Nature: warm Belongs to mint family Origin: China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam Health benefits: relieves vomit and diarrhea from minor seafood poisoning, improves digestion, contains omega 3. Uses: leaves are used with ginger in a decoction for minor seafood poisoning.
	Grass Jelly Other name: Suong Sam, Cocculus orbiculatus Nature: cool Origin: SE Asia, Vietnam, Indonesia Health benefits: promotes healthy range for blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, relieves fever discomfort.  Pectin soothes GI tract, slows glucose absorption. Contains high amount of water soluble fiber, and chlorophyll. Uses: leaves are mashed, massaged and strained to extract juice.
	Fish Mint Other name: Diep Ca, Houttuynia Cordata, poison blocking plant Nature: cool Origin:  China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India Health benefits: anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, benefits respiratory, reduce coughs. Uses: leaves and tender stems are eaten raw.
	Wild Betal Other name: La Lot, Piper Sarmentosum Nature: warm Belongs to peppercorn family Origin: Malaysia, Vietnam, Lao, India Health benefits: helps speed fractured bone injury, joint aches, has anti-depressant effect. Contains powerful antioxidant called Naringenin. Uses: use as wrap to grill, cook leaves as a decoction.