ears ago beef was a luxury in the average Chinese kitchen because of its short supply and high cost. It was rarely seen on dinner tables when I was growing up in Taiwan during the fifties. Things have changed significantly since then. Nowadays, beef is just as common as other meats in Chinese households. More and more Chinese youngsters are influenced by western diets, putting pressure on moms to conform, and to cook them hamburgers and steaks. But for the older Chinese, traditions still prevail. In the hands of an experienced cook, there can indeed be a multitude of ways to prepare a delicious beef dish. In addition to various beef stir fries, we have very elaborate beef stews, beef cold cuts, aromatic beef dumplings, beef egg rolls, crispy or tender meatballs made of chopped or ground beef, and much more.
Stir-frying seems to be designed especially for beef since it cooks rather quickly. This method is a real saver of time, money, and calories. Imagine a chunk of sirloin steak that serves only one; that same steak cut into thin strips and stirred with a head of broccoli, also cut up, and now you have a dish that serves three or four.
The hearty flavor of beef goes well with almost every vegetable. The most popular accompanying vegetables for beef are usually the ones with strong flavors such as green peppers, scallions, or celery. Greens with refreshing taste such as asparagus, green beans, and snow peas are also good matches. One little used vegetable which gives beef a unique good taste is tender young ginger shoots.
Unlike pork, beef demands more care in stir-frying; otherwise you can end up with tough and tasteless meat. Many inexperienced cooks fail to meat the criteria for tenderness and smoothness when they cook beef because they lack the required knowledge to treat beef in the proper way. For satisfying results, remember these guidelines:
?Flank steak is the best choice if it is fresh; but if not available fresh, use other tender cuts such as sirloin or tenderloin. I often use fresh shin beef from a Chinese market for stir-frying, and the resulting dish is surprisingly tender and very flavorful, indeed!
?Cut against the grain for better texture. Allow the beef to absorb enough liquid (soy sauce, sherry, and a small amount of oil) during the marinade (30 minutes or longer). The purpose is to create a tender and juicy texture. Mixing continuously helps bring the desired results.
旻or a smooth texture, mix in half-teaspoon baking soda. This is a very efficient tenderizer which has been widely used by many restaurants (but it is not sanctioned because nutrient availability is reduced). If you do not want to use baking soda, use one teaspoon of cooking oil and a small amount of egg white. This combination will also give beef a smooth texture and help it remain tender.
Apart from these special techniques, another important factor when cooking with beef is the sauce. A dish is usually named after the sauce in it. Besides soy sauce, the most popular seasonings for stir-fried beef are oyster sauce, fermented black bean sauce, and sha cha sauce. This last one is the most robust of all, it adds zest to just about any dish. (See letters to editor, page 9.)
Ground beef may receive less attention than whole beef in the average Chinese household, nevertheless, it stars in a few famous dim sum dishes such as Cantonese Steamed Beef Meatballs and Northern-style Pan Fried Beef Dumplings. In many cases, beef may be used the same way as ground pork if measures are taken to eliminate its strong taste and improve its texture. Some of the Chinese secrets for use with ground beef include:
昒se Sichuan Peppercorn Oil, minced ginger and scallion to combat any gamey or strong tastes.
昅ix in egg, cornstarch, and sesame oil for added smoothness.
Interestingly, Pan Fried Beef Dumplings, a famous beef snack made from ground beef, has a better taste than egg rolls. These dumplings are juicy and flavorful on the inside, aromatic and crusty on the outside. They are quite popular in Los Angeles but seldom seen on the East Coast.
One advantage of Chinese cooking is its capability of transforming uninteresting inexpensive cuts of meat into delicacies. A good example of this can be seen in Beef Stew Noodles, which is made from beef shin or brisket. Almost all Chinese people love this dish. When it is cooked to perfection, it tastes robust and incredibly delicious. Another famous beef shin dish is Five Spice Beef. It is succulent and aromatic, and the beef is usually cut into large slices and served as a first course at a banquet or as cold cuts during a regular meal.
The Chinese have always referred to a place within their history as “Jiang Hu” (Gong wu - in Cantonese). This age is a part of China’s mythical past, and is the time when heroes, anti-heroes, and villains feature prominently.
The term, “Jiang Hu”, which literally means “rivers and lakes”, but actually describe the martial world, is where sword-bearing men and women embark on their self-quests for honour, power, and respect. These incredible people are an entity wholly different than their national countrymen. They have their own rules, fights, disputes, and ideology. They may go into seclusion for many years simply to learn a more powerful martial art, so that they can challenge another. Defeating a worthy opponent would lead to respect, and a name for themselves to be remembered throughout history.
Wuxia xiaoshao (martial arts novels) is consumed eagerly by the readers in Asia, thrilling the young and old alike with their stories of powerful romantic swordsmen, and their adventures to rid evil. It is a phenomenon that is comparable to the popularity of science fiction and fantasy novels read by Westerners.
In fact, there are a lot of similarities between sci-fi / fantasy and wuxia xiaoshao: Chinese heroes usually have unimaginable power, learnt by ancient scrolls of text, and utilised through their inner energy. This is comparable to the powers learnt by magicians, wizards and sorcerers; and of which only talented people can learn them.
What differs between the two is the way both of the worlds are viewed. There is more of a grand epic feeling in fantasy worlds, woven into a rich tapestry of characters, political intrigue, and save the world quests. Wuxia novels are more about individual characters in their own quests for revenge, honour and respect. Taking revenge for a wrongdoing is often a recurring feature in wuxia novels, and is mostly the basis of a whole novel.
The most famous writer of wuxia novels is undoubtedly Jin Yong, whose dozen of novels have become the all-time bestsellers of Chinese novels around the world, and have inspired many television series and films.
Jin Yong, real name Louis Cha Liang Yong, was born in 1924 in Zhejian, China. He trained as a diplomat but pursued a career in journalism instead. He took a job as a writer for the Ta Kung Pao newspaper situated in Shanghai, but was later sent to the Hong Kong office. Bored with reporting, he went on to reviewing films, and later to screen-writing, but it is his dabble into writing novels that later become his forte.
In 1955, Louis Cha wrote his first feature length novel that would later become the Book and Sword. It serialised in the Xin Wan Bao newspaper in Hong Kong and became immensely popular, and Cha went on to write a dozen more novels over the next 13 years. He made an ingenious move by founding his own newspaper Ming Pao Daily, and made sure his works only featured in his paper. Many people bought the paper just to read the serialisation.
His last novel was in 1972, and he vowed not to write another novel again. His vow still stands, but his name lives on.
说句实话，在若干年前，我对世博会几乎全无概念。后来，等到上海申博成功之后，在媒体上才陆陆续续知道世博会的概念，哦，原来，那些某某“世界博览会”就是世博啊。脑海里印象最深刻的莫过于“巴拿马世界博览会”，因为茅台酒的包装上好像总是印着“巴拿马世界博览会金奖”这样的字样。除了印象深刻的茅台外，好像小时候很多商品上都有“莫某世界博览会金奖”的字样。老时光里面的世博金奖，都是响当当拿得出叫得响的东西：中国的白酒、丝绸、茶叶、刺绣……其他国家拿出的也都是硬邦邦响当当的好东西：蒸汽机、电报机、电话记、留声机……现在想想，上个世纪之前的年代，由于物质的贫瘠和交流方式的不自由，一旦有了交流的条件，世界各国就抢着把最代表人类文明的东西摆出来。那个时候中国人都叫世博会是“炫奇会”，倒也恰当。我几乎能够想象到，那些声光电影是如何刺激人们的心灵，如何给世界带来莫大的震撼。当人们第一次听到无线电收音机里发出的声音时，将是多少震惊；当听到留声机内自己的声音时，又是多么陌生和惊喜。混凝土轻而易举地建造起人们安身立命的地方；火车在世博会上开出来了，把一个个遥远的地方拉近；航天器的出现更让世人燃起对无限宇宙憧憬的希望。过去的那些世博会，名垂青史，因为它们所包含的、另一个世界人们的生好方式，所呈现的前所未见的物质世界、以及抖出的那一个一个“包袱”，从此改变了世界，改变了千万年后人们的生活方式和思考问题的方向。
不过，时至今日的世博会倒是有些尴尬。世界科技已经这么发达了，任何科技发明都会在出现的那一刻就立刻用媒体向世界报告。网络、电视都无时无刻不汇报着人类文明世界的动向。更多的还有如牛毛数不清的展出、表演，猎奇已经等不到世博会了。那么，在当下，世博会还能展出什么呢？或者，还有哪些展出是能够被记住的呢？
爱知世博会大概还有人听说过，那么，去年萨拉戈萨世博会知道的人又有多少呢？前不久看日本名建筑师原研哉的书，他参与爱知世博会的前期策划。他提出的世博会主题让我觉得饶有意趣。（当然，原研哉最后表示，爱知世博会最后和他设计的主题相去甚远。）原研哉设计的主题是“自然的睿智”，这个主题，和之前世博会中“改变世界”的这一隐含主题有了绝大的不同，它所提倡的是让世人看到自然的力量，也即尊重自然的诉求。于是，在原研哉的设计作品中，我们看到了充满日本和式风味的松鼠、鱼……原先世博会中那些“重要”的展品退下来了，取而代之的是世博会的环境、建筑、氛围——这个让参观者身临其境后可以震惊的“作品”。也唯有这个作品或许能撼动阅尽千帆的参观者的心灵。
这大概也是人类进步之后必须面对的事情。当人类的心灵已经感受不到物质丰富和科技进步的狂喜，一切都变得虚拟，一切都变得麻木，一切都变得无足轻重大惊小怪。也许，我们只能在心底呼唤那么一种可能性，这种可能性的意义不仅是对世博而言，更是对世人的心灵言说。这个世界，除了物质的极大丰富、刺激、欢跃外，是不是还能给世界的人们看到另一种东西呢？也许，理想的世博会永远是“未完成”状态的。
记得大学时，室友谈恋爱没多久，晚上回到宿舍，对我们兴致勃勃地谈起约会的内容：给孩子取名字。她不断回忆、补充着她可能的未来孩子的名字，女孩子可以叫什么，男孩子又要叫什么。我们边听也边为她出主意，气氛甚是热烈。其实边是为她出注意，心里也难免为自己打着小算盘。现在的室友和男友终成眷属，想来，她再为未来的孩子取名时，某年夜晚中的若干绞尽脑汁的名字可能都不记得了吧。
我私下猜测，为还没有“八字一撇”的孩子取名字，这个大概是所有情侣在恋爱中都会做的一件事吧。不仅因为讨论名字意味着对恋爱双方的未来的美好憧憬，更因为这本事就是一件最有创造力和挑战性的事情。它几乎是议论不完的，今天想到的名字可能明天就被否决；翻书的时候、看广告牌的时候、打字的时候，都会有让人灵光一现的瞬间。这还因为中国文字的博大精深。远的不说，近的就有“金木水火土”这五个基本元素和无数它们作为偏旁出没的汉字。根据孩子的出生日期，历书往往可以推算出有什么元素和缺什么元素。于是，“锦上添花”或“雪中送炭”式的选择这些元素出没的汉字，往往可以成全出很多具有中国古老哲学思想意味的名字。
但取名字其实并不是什么特别高深的学问。比如中国古代的音韵学，讲究什么平仄，复杂的如唐诗，“平平｜仄仄｜平平｜仄”，“仄仄｜平平｜仄仄｜平”，还要写出一首艺术境界皆佳的诗来，大概想想就让人头疼。但实际上每个中国人，只要是用汉语说话写字的，往往就能凭直觉判断出这个名字“响亮”不“响亮”。凡是能够读得响亮、顺口的，就是符合音韵学的好名字。反之，有的名字字面上看是非常有文化，但读出来，却含含糊糊，几个字并作一个字的，那肯定不是太好的名字。在这个方面，中国人都是天才。
突然想起一些关于取名字的趣事来了。小学同学里面有个叫“杨伟”的，这个名字后来成为全中国人都知道的谐音了；大学里面的教授，突然听说他给儿子取了个万分普通的名字，立刻，崇拜的光圈消失；反过来，突然听到另一个老师女儿的名字特别好听，于是也对这个老师印象深刻起来。还认识个邻居小孩子，很可怜，天生自闭症，于是家长花了万元找风水先生取名字，“一鸣”，大概是希望今后可以说话，一鸣惊人吧。可惜的是，这个孩子到现在还是一个典型的天真无邪的自闭症患者。名字这个东西，叫得响，没有不好的谐音就可以了。至于名字的文化涵义，说到底，每个汉字都有自己的文化和传说，就看怎么理解、怎么跟人掰了。
许襟于2009年7月17日
Zhang Heng (AD 78-139), also spelled Chang Heng, was court astrologer to the Emperor of China, although he had originally made his name as a poet and writer. In his role as court astrologer he adjusted the calendar to bring it into line with the seasons as determined by his observations. His greatest invention was a seismograph for recording earthquakes (which, incidentally, is illustrated on a Chinese stamp from 1953). Another great invention was an improved form of armillary sphere turned by water power, a precursor of water-powered clocks. Zhang also studied mathematics but his reputation in this was not as good as in astronomy.
Zu Chongzhi (429–500), also spelled Tsu Ch’ung-Chih, made many improvements to astronomy and mathematics. He calculated the value of precession, although his result was nearly twice the true amount. He was more accurate with his measurement of the lunar month and the length of the year which allowed him to predict the occurrence of eclipses. In mathematics, he calculated the true value of pi to several decimal places and introduced the now-familiar fraction of 22/7 as a good approximation. He also devised the Daming calendar, which took into account the effect of precession, but it was not adopted until after his death.
Zhang Sui (683-727), also known as Yi Xing or I-Hsing, developed Zhang Heng’s work to create a water-powered celestial sphere with an escapement that struck the quarter hours and hours as the sphere turned once every day. Two additional wheels outside the sphere carried small globes representing the Moon and Sun. By comparing his observations of star positions with those of earlier astronomers, he is credited with discovering the phenomenon of proper motion. He also drew up a new and more accurate version of the calendar – in the Chinese calendar, as in the Jewish calendar, months are based on the cycle of lunar phases and how these fit into the solar year is governed by certain rules which were modified by a succession of calendar reformers.
The above three feature in a set of four commemorating scientists of ancient China. The set is rounded out by Li Shizhen (Li Shih-Chen) (1518–1593), a physician and pharmacologist.
Important disclaimer: This article is not a proof of Zheng He or his fleet reaching America. It only provides some new clues and new angles for readers to make their own conclusion. A video copy of the lecture at Hong Kong History Museum (June 17, 2006) is available from the museum for the public.
A 7-cm diameter plain brass medal with the inscription “Authorized and awarded by XuanDe of Great Ming” was unearthed several hundred miles inland from the American east coast.
In 1430, Ming Emperor Xuan Zong commissioned Zheng He to deliver a message to foreign nations that he was enthroned with a new era named Xuan De. This was the whole purpose of the 7th and the last expedition for Zheng He. “Did Zheng He’s excursion reach east America? Or is there other explanation?” The owner of the disk, Dr. Siu-Leung Lee, would like to present some interesting observations and leave the conclusion to the audience.
Ming emperors had a diplomatic protocol to announce enthronement and new era by sending gifts and medals to other nations. Xuan De (1426-1435) is the Nianhao (era) of Emperor Xuan Zong, the 5th emperor of Ming dynasty. In 1430, he dispatched Zheng He to announce his enthronement. The medal represented the highest authority of the emperor and was only delivered by a diplomat like Zheng He or his deputy. After Xuan Zong died, China isolated herself from the rest of the world for more than 400 years. Chinese started to come to America after 1850s as indenture labor mostly through the west coast to mine gold and build the railway. Few Chinese came through this part of the east coast where the railway was built exclusively by slaves and convicts. Today, this little town of 9000 has 4 Chinese by US Census in Year 2000. This brass disk is minimally decorated with little monetary or artistic value to Chinese laborers and European missionaries, who are the other possible but unlikely carriers of items from China. There should be quite a few medals of this kind in those days, but the unused ones were usually collected, melted down and recycled by the next emperor. Those countries along Zheng He’s route all suffered from multiple wars. Items like this were easily lost in looting.
The brass medal was discovered under 4 inches of soil in a scantly populated area several hundred miles inland from the east coast of America. After almost 600 years, the medal shows no apparent signs of corrosion, other than a tight coating of soil. Elemental analysis of the medal shows that the material is brass, a copper alloy with zinc. Xuan De was exactly the era when brass first became available, as exemplified by the famous Xuan De brass censers and coins.
The brass medal was unearthed at the center of Cherokee Indians’ homeland that became a major battleground with the first European settlers. Hundreds of Cherokee Indians were massacred in multiple battles. In 1776, right after the American Independence, the Cherokee’s land was grant to the soldiers in lieu of pension, resulting in another major battle. Could the Cherokees be the ones who lost the medal in the war? The Cherokee people were later driven more than a thousand miles away to Oklahoma in 1838-39 in a historical event known as the “Trail of Tears”, during which thousands of Cherokee Indians died. During the colonial era, 90-95% of the Cherokee perished. But why was the medal found inland? Did they obtain it from other tribes near the coast? This traces to another story.
The coastal tribe Catawba is well known for making pottery. There are potters in almost every family. Some of their pottery designs bear great resemblance to the bronze censers made in Xuan De era. The Catawba and Cherokee tribes were rivalries but they also traded with each other. Could the Catawba tribe be the first to make contact with the Ming people?
Europeans, especially the English, have been trying to reproduce the Chinese porcelain for ages without success. In 1712-22, Père Francois Xavier d’Entrecolles (殷弘緒), a Jesuit missionary, learned about the secret of Jingdezhen (The porcelain capital of China and the world) and wrote two long letters back home. However, continental Europeans still could not produce true porcelain for the lack of the knowledge to process white clay. The first discovery of white clay was by Andrew Duché in America. Wedgwood, the founder of the first porcelain industry in England dispatched Thomas Griffiths to America to look for china clay. By kidnapping the chief’s wife, he was led to the white clay pit by the Cherokee chief. Tons of the white clay were shipped back to London to set up Wedgwood, the first porcelain factory in England. Even so, England’s porcelain was still not competitive against the Chinese imports during the entire 18th century. Yet, at the same time, pottery in North Carolina was made in Ming style by natives and new European immigrants. What took China close to 10,000 years to perfect was not so easily learned even by the technologically adept Europeans at that time. How could the Neolithic Cherokee and Catawba Indians master this technology so well?
The most fascinating fact is the Cherokee term for china clay is “unaker”, similar to what Chinese call 堊泥“uk-na[ke]” in southern dialect ([ke] is silent). Is it a coincidence? This happened before the arrival of the Europeans. The Chinese name uk-nake was used in Ming dynasty. It was later replaced by other terms like china clay and kaolin. A Jingdezhen porcelain expert says that Zheng He might have brought the clay bricks (petuntse or baidunzi) along with the porcelain gifts.
The Cherokee people have two original flags, viz. one with a white background and the Bigger Dipper constellation in red that they called the peace flag. The war flag is reversed in color. Observation of constellation has been a routine in China since ChunQiu era (770-476 BC). A flag with the Big Dipper has been used as one of several flags in imperial ceremonial parade from Song dynasty (960-1127AD) up to Qing dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The Ming emperors were especially fond of the Big Dipper in association with their Daoist belief. Zheng He used an instrument 牽星板 Qian Xing Ban (Boards aligning the stars) to calculate the latitude using the Polaris and the Big Dipper. On the other hand, lacking a written language to register the celestial observations, the Cherokee people seem to have no knowledge of other constellations on record.
According to the history of Ming dynasty, Zheng He died in India in 1433. But it has never been proven since his body could not have survived the intense heat for month en route to China. Ming dynasty had significant advances in brass and porcelain. The brass medal is a specific case and pottery a general case. Could these clues change the history we have been told? More research is necessary.
A chemist by profession, Dr. Lee has been interested in Chinese culture in many aspects. In 1996, Dr. Lee founded the Asiawind.com website which hosts the world’s first Chinese calligraphy website and a Chinese antique website that drew attention to an inquiry about the medal. To many, this medal might be easily discarded as a piece of scrap metal. Perhaps it is the combined knowledge of Chinese history, calligraphy and chemistry that allowed Dr. Lee to recognize the significance of this obscure brass plate.
China is a country with a long history and developed civilisation. The models, colours and craft of the carved ancient furniture have their specific oriental and Asian national style.
The Chinese Antique Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is made of selected excellent wood, which is based on both popular and imperial use, handed down from the previous dynasties Tang, Song, Yuan et Ming.
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The medecine cabinets and tables make your life easier, while baskets and vases decorate pleasantly your inner rooms. |
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The Chinese antique furniture has two characteristics.
- The work is always excecuted with the greatest care. The structure is strict and tight; the line is smooth. The splendor and emitted light are realized by deep-carving and hollow carving, and by repeating varnishing: 7 times in all.
- The forms and varieties of models cannot be equalled by other country. There are more than 100 variations, such as a palace bed which was done by a thousand days of work, different kinds of dinner tables, desks, chairs, cupboards, screens, dressing-tables, barrels and benches. They are really precious arts and displays, which are greatly appreciated by foreign friends all over the world.
We find ourselves new unique pieces dayly from the population, or from museums in different parts of China. Our catalog will never be exhaustive and here we present only some samples of Chinese furniture just for reference when you select them.
Chinese Antique Furniture
There exist two major styles of traditionnal chinese furniture:
- the lacquerware furniture with sculpture and painting of vivid and variable colors, it fullfills a pre-eminently decorative role, and
- the traditional furniture that is much more sober, with a façade of almost unique color. It is frequently used by families in the ancient China.
We show you here a collection of the second category. This furniture has an appearance much more in harmony with european and american furniture, and are often cheaper but more pratical.
The Eurasia Chinese Antique Furniture - France assures with Chinese restauraters the restauration of chinese antique furniture, who exercise since 40 years in this artistic and artisanal work in China.
These antique/ancient furniture of style of dynasties of Ming and Qing (1368-1911 AC) are collected from great chinese familiies of the epoch, sometimes with certificat of origine. Exclusively in naturel wood and bamboo, their materials are as well diverse as their forms: elm, camphorwood, oak, teak, cypress, beech, maple, chestnut… . or other noble trees such as roosewood.
Near 400 models are distributed in 3 categories according to their functionality, in harmony with the 3 pieces in a traditional chinese house: bedroom, living room and kitchen.
- Bedroom:
Beds and clothes-presses are essential elements. Desks, bedside tables, chests of drawers as well as suitcases and trunks offer a lovable ambiance and a supplemental confort.
- Living room:
Tables, chairs, armchairs, sideboards, commodes,chests of drawers, medecine cabinets as well as bookcases are most suitable here. Other decorating objects such as vases and weaven baskets in bamboo will give a delightfull charm to your living room.
- Kitchen:
The kitchen can be either a separate piece or a surface integrated in the living room in the classical chinese style, but it has always its own fruniture. The cupboard and dining-room table naturally occupy a place of choice. Owning to it’s good airing, a genuine fridge smelling a wood parfume, chinese people usually kept their food fresh. Now they can contributing to arranging your precieux crockery and dishes in porcelain.
You can find also tools of dayly life such as cake kneading-troughs, water buckets, pick-nick baskets, bowls, children baths, highchairs, moses baskets and other decoration objects…
As complement, we also provide other furnishing products of artisanal style in furniture, home decoration as well as Chinese Culture.
Please contact us for more information for pricing or to order if you either a professional or an individual customer. An online shop proposes a direct shopping with payment by check.
Que vous soyez particulier ou professionnel, vous êtes bienvenu à nous contacter pour les prix, les commandes ou d’autres informations. Une boutique en ligne propose l’achat direct avec paiement par chèque.
Feeling blue? Mung beans, lobster, turkey, asparagus, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, pineapple, tofu, spinach and bananas could lift your spirits.
A diet high in tryptophan - an amino acid converted by the body into the feel-good chemical serotonin - can improve mood and wellbeing, pediatrician and natural health expert Caroline Longmore said.
The body cannot produce tryptophan so unless we get enough through our diets, we may suffer a deficiency, leading to low serotonin levels which are associated with mood disorders, anxiety, cravings and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
“Following a diet which contains foods rich in naturally occurring serotonin will improve your mood, leaving you energised and in a state of harmony and wellbeing,” Dr Longmore said.
Mental health experts say while the theory behind tryptophans for improving mood is solid, its use by depressed patients has a chequered history in Australia.
Gordon Parker, from the Black Dog Institute, said tryptophan supplements were widely used before the 1990s but after a number of patients suffered serious side effects from a contaminated batch, they were temporarily taken off the market.
Professor Parker said while some patients strongly believed such supplements were beneficial, scientific evidence was lacking.
“I would say it’s something that can be useful for some people but the quality control varies enormously,” he said.
In her ebook The Serotonin Secret, Dr Longmore claims the best way to get optimum tryptophan levels is through a carefully devised eating plan. She rates dozens of foods for their levels of tryptophan.
Written with Australian-trained medical scientist and naturopath Katrin Hempel, the book has 50 recipes designed to solve serotonin imbalance without drugs. The concept works on the same principle as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as popular antidepressant Prozac.
Britain’s Food and Mood Project recommends eating chicken, sardines, turkey, salmon, fresh tuna, nuts and seeds to boost serotonin levels.
But Associate Professor Michael Baigent, clinical adviser to Beyondblue, said there was only low-level evidence to suggest tryptophans have a medical effect.
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