Parents-to-be adopt many methods to determine whether the unborn baby is a boy or a girl. The Chinese pregnancy calendar is an often used method to know about the gender of the new life in the mothers womb.
The Chinese pregnancy calendar is an ancient way for predicting the gender of the unborn child. It is also known as a Chinese conception chart, or the Chinese Conception Calendar. It is believed that this ancient method is highly accurate, although no clinical studies verify these claims.
History – Chinese Pregnancy Calendar
This chart is an ancient Chinese secret. A Chinese scientist developed this calendar, 700 years ago. According to a legend, the Chinese pregnancy calendar is capable of predicting the baby gender based on two variables: the baby month of conception and the mothers age.
This chart was kept in a royal tomb, near the city of Peking in China in ancient times. Now this original Chinese chart is on display at the Beijing Institute of Science. Many people, especially the Chinese, believe that the original Chinese pregnancy calendar is almost 100% accurate.
How it Works?
According to studies, the Chinese pregnancy calendar has been found to be 97% effective in predicting a baby gender. This accuracy is credited to the use of Chinese lunar calendar.
The Chinese pregnancy calendar is dependent on the lunar calendar. It is based on the month a baby is conceived and not the birth month. The second factor is the mothers age at the time of conception, adding 9 months to her age to adjust the lunar calendar.
The conceived month from January to December is listed on the top row of the Chinese pregnancy chart, and the left column of the chart represents the mothers age during the conception. You need to follow the steps given below to get the most accurate result from the Chinese pregnancy calendar.
1. Note down your age at the time of conception.
2. Add 9 months to the age to adjust to the lunar calendar.
3. Also note down the month when the baby was conceived.
4. Now simply search for the conceived month across the top portion of the chart and the age on the left side of the chart.
5. Lastly, follow these two coordinates to the spot where they intersect, and that will show you either a box containing B for boy, or G for girl.
In comparison to the Chinese pregnancy calendar, the ultrasound during the 7th or 8th month of the pregnancy is a more reliable method to know the gender of the child. In fact an ultrasound is use to monitor the pregnancy development week by week development right from conception till child birth.
Whether it is a boy or a girl, what does it matter? What matters is that you have fun guessing the gender of your unborn child using the Chinese calendar. All along use a pregnancy journal to record your pregnancy development week by week.
Parents-to-be adopt many methods to determine whether the unborn baby is a boy or a girl. The Chinese pregnancy calendar is an often used method to know about the gender of the new life in the mothers womb.
The Chinese pregnancy calendar is an ancient way for predicting the gender of the unborn child. It is also known as a Chinese conception chart, or the Chinese Conception Calendar. It is believed that this ancient method is highly accurate, although no clinical studies verify these claims.
History – Chinese Pregnancy Calendar
This chart is an ancient Chinese secret. A Chinese scientist developed this calendar, 700 years ago. According to a legend, the Chinese pregnancy calendar is capable of predicting the babys gender based on two variables: the baby’s month of conception and the mothers age.
This chart was kept in a royal tomb, near the city of Peking in China in ancient times. Now this original Chinese chart is on display at the Beijing Institute of Science. Many people, especially the Chinese, believe that the original Chinese pregnancy calendar is almost 100% accurate.
How it Works?
According to studies, the Chinese pregnancy calendar has been found to be 97% effective in predicting a baby’s gender. This accuracy is credited to the use of Chinese lunar calendar.
The Chinese pregnancy calendar is dependent on the lunar calendar. It is based on the month a baby is conceived and not the birth month. The second factor is the mothers age at the time of conception, adding 9 months to her age to adjust the lunar calendar.
The conceived month from January to December is listed on the top row of the Chinese pregnancy chart, and the left column of the chart represents the mothers age during the conception. You need to follow the steps given below to get the most accurate result from the Chinese pregnancy calendar.
1. Note down your age at the time of conception.
2. Add 9 months to the age to adjust to the lunar calendar.
3. Also note down the month when the baby was conceived.
4. Now simply search for the conceived month across the top portion of the chart and the age on the left side of the chart.
5. Lastly, follow these two coordinates to the spot where they intersect, and that will show you either a box containing B for boy, or G for girl.
In comparison to the Chinese pregnancy calendar, the ultrasound during the 7th or 8th month of the pregnancy is a more reliable method to know the gender of the child. In fact an ultrasound is use to monitor the pregnancy development week by week development right from conception till child birth.
Whether it is a boy or a girl, what does it matter? What matters is that you have fun guessing the gender of your unborn child using the Chinese calendar. All along use a pregnancy journal to record your pregnancy development week by week.
Here in the U.S., we eat what tastes good. School kids going through the school lunch line make food choices based on if the food tastes good or not. Even adults will choose fast food over more nutritious home cooked meals occasionally based on taste. Who wouldn’t want cake or candy over vegetables?
The Chinese view food very differently from those in the U.S. They know that food can have a beneficial healing affect on their bodies by strengthening the immune system and healing illnesses.
Individuals in the U.S. can learn about the concept of using herbs in their diet to benefit their health by reading Chinese Herbal Secrets by Stefan Chmelik. This book explains the principals of some of the more common herbs.
Chinese medicine uses herbs that most Americans would find familiar such as the following:
Sesame seeds are used in salads, as a garnish on green vegetables or on toast with black currant jam.
Walnuts in salad or used in baking can aid those with low energy, lumbar pain or weak knees.
Women’s ginseng (Dang Gui) can be added to soup for those females who suffer from poor sleep, general weakness, fainting, dizziness or tiredness. In Chinese medicine these symptoms are referred to as: deficiency of Blood and often seen in young women who are vegetarian in their dietary choices.
The Chinese call cooking with herbs, “Kitchen Medicine” and many mothers and grandmothers have been caring for the health of their family members for centuries from their kitchens.
Soups and stews are common ways of preparing Chinese herbs for medicinal purposes. These foods (meats, vegetables and Chinese “tonic” herbs) were used to increase Qi, build up the blood, moisten the Yin, warm the Yang, and in general improve the organ functions.
Not only are soups and stews used to promote good health, they are also used to help the body to recover from surgery, childbirth, illness or trauma.
Chinese women also use another way to prepare herbs in food called, Congee. This food item is served at breakfast and is a mixture of herbs and rice.
An example of a favorite soup is:
Chicken soup with the following herbs: astragalus, ginseng, cordyceps, and dates. The herbs used are Astragalus Root, Chinese Red Ginseng Root, American Ginseng Root, Cordyceps fungus, Dioscorea Yan Root, aged Tangerine Peel, Chinese Red Date, either Indian Green Cardomon pods or the Chinese Cardomon and Poria Fungus.
This soup contains the following food and other items:
Cold-pressed sesame oil
Fresh ginger root
A brown onion
Chopped vegetables (variety usually carrots, turnips, daikon)
Skinless hormone-free (very important) chicken
Dark miso paste
White pepper
There are many Websites with recipes and instructions on how to cook soups and stews.
The evidence that Chinese tea helps prevent cancer is overwhelming. Since the 1990s, hundreds of studies have been performed showing that tea can inhibit the formation of tumors, and slow the growth of those already formed.
Here are just a few examples of what cancer-related studies have shown:
Chinese tea and breast cancer: Scientists have long noted that breast cancer is much less common in countries where green tea is regularly consumed. One Japanese study found a decreased risk of recurrence for early-stage cancer patients who drank three or more cups of green tea. This suggests at least the possibility that regular green tea consumption may help prevent recurrence of breast cancer in early-stage cases. A Chinese study found that women who consumed at least 26 ounces of green tea leaves each year had a 39-percent reduced risk of breast cancer compared to nondrinkers. Twenty-six ounces of dried leaves per year equates to only 300 cups of green tea over the course of a year, which equalsless
than one cup per day.
Chinese tea and lung cancer: A study published in 2003 found that smokers who drank four cups of decaffeinated green tea per day demonstrated a 31- percent decrease in biomarkers of oxidative DNA damage in white blood cells as compared to those who drank four cups of water. Oxidative DNA damage is implicated in the development of various forms of cancer. A study published in 2007 in the Journal of Inflammation found that black tea had a positive preventive effect. In this study, guinea pigs were subjected to cigarette smoke exposure and then given water or black tea to drink. The cigarette smoke, needless to say, caused damage to the guinea pigs’ lungs, which was prevented when they were given black tea infusions to drink instead of water.
Chinese tea and prostate cancer: Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men. More than 230,000 American men are diagnosed with this disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society. A study published in the December 1, 2004 issue of Cancer Research showed that the polyphenols present in green tea help prevent the spread of prostate cancer by targeting molecular pathways that shut down the proliferation and spread of tumor cells, as well as inhibitingthe growth of tumor-nurturing blood vessels.
Oolong tea
A good Oolong is both refreshing and delicious; the Oolong spectrum has a range of aromas and tastes quite distinct from anything you get with green or black tea – from the delicate, nearly-green Pouchong through rich and subtle mid-range Oolongs like Ti Kuan Yin and on to teas which border on black.
It’s hard to get reliable figures on caffeine content, but it’s probably not far wrong to say that the average cup of Oolong tea, correctly brewed, has around half as much caffeine as a cup of black tea, and about half again as much as a cup of green tea. The difference comes mainly from the brewing temperature, not the makeup of the tea itself.
Although they combine features of black and green teas, their flavour has little in common with either. Unless over-brewed, most Oolongs show almost no trace of bitterness, and generally have a stronger aroma than almost any green or black tea.
Like other tea, Oolong tea is rich in antioxidants called polyphenols. These help prevent cancer, keep the heart healthy and aid general well-being.
In spite of all this, until recently it has been terribly difficult to find Oolong tea almost anywhere in Britain outside of Chinatown, the occasional oriental grocers, and a small number of specialist tea houses. This is now slowly changing.
Do painful menstrual cramps plague you each month? You are not alone, as 50% of menstruating women have the same experience month after month. But why suffer when you could be living pain free? NSAIDs only mask the pain for a few short hours. Chinese herbal medicine, on the other hand, has been used for centuries with well-documented results.An international nonprofit organization, known as the Cochrane Collaboration, studied the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine in relieving menstrual pain compared to western drugs. Their conclusion: “Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhea roughly doubled pain relief and improvement in overall symptoms compared with conventional Western pharmaceuticals,” reported Xiaoshu Zhu.1
Here are a few common Chinese herbs used for painful menstrual cramps:
1. Dong Gui (Chinese Angelica or Angelica Sinensis)
Also known as the "female ginseng," it is commonly used to regulate the menstrual cycle and relieve menstrual cramps. It also helps to relieve menopausal symptoms, reduce PMS and anemia and to re-establish a menstrual cycle after cessation of birth control pills. It is commonly sold as a single herb tea, bagged or loose. It is considered a king herb or premier herb in Chinese gynecological disease because of its ability to harmonize the blood in Chinese medicine. Dong Gui is also considered antispasmodic. The coumarin chemicals present in this herb may help dilate blood vessels and relax the smooth muscles of the uterus, thus relieving menstrual cramping.
2. Chuan Xiong (Chuanxiong Rhizoma)
This herb is also a key medicinal herb for treating pain. It improves blood circulation and promotes the flow of "qi" or vital energy. Chinese women, dating back to the Song Dynasty, used to take this Chinese herb in the form of soup. The soup is called a Four Substance Decoction and includes three other herbs: angelica, red peony and Chinese foxglove. The soup and tea are still used today as a blood tonic to relieve PMS, stop menstrual pain and improve overall health, especially after giving birth.
3. Bai Shao (White Peony Root)
White Peony Root nourishes the blood and improves circulation. It is also used for a wide variety of gynecological problems. The peony root is considered a liver tonic in Chinese medicine. By strengthening the liver, it helps to increase the efficiency of protein and fat metabolism, thus inhibiting the excessive synthesis of prostaglandins that may cause an over-active uterus and endometrial pain.
4. Yi Mu Cao (Chinese Motherwort)
The leaves from this herb can be used to treat menstrual problems. They have been shown to improve blood circulation and clear blood clots that occur in menstrual disorders and after childbirth. The leaves also promote diuresis and relieve edema. Studies on the alkaloid leonurine showed that this substance stimulates the uterus of rabbits, cats, dogs and guinea pigs.2
5. Yan Hu Suo (Corydalis Rhizome)
There are two main functions of this Chinese herb: to strengthen blood circulation and to relieve pain. When used with chuan xiong it is known to help both body aches and headaches. Corydalis is related to the opium poppy. Although only 1% in strength compared to opium, it is a very effective pain reliever. The active chemical constituent di- tetrahydropalmatine (THP) is a neuroactive alkaloid with analgesic action that relieves cramping pain.
Groups of Chinese herbs, also known as formulas, are more beneficial than single herb remedies because the herbs work synergistically for conditions such as menstrual cramps. The Cochran study also stated that: “The herbal remedies were also significantly better at relieving painful cramps and other symptoms than acupuncture or a hot water bottle, with overall promising findings… Chinese herbs overall, whether standardized or tailored, yielded better pain relief than conventional pharmaceutical therapies.”
The five herbs above are only a few of the herbs beneficial for menstrual cramps in the Chinese herbal library. Asian pharmacies sell prescriptions of herbal teas and pills daily, and Asian cultures have used herbs successfully for hundreds of years. By replacing NSAIDs with Chinese herbs, women are able to avoid the nasty NSAID3 side effects, such as upset stomach, heartburn, ulcers and rashes, and liver damage, to name a few. Women don’t need to suffer month after month. You can use Chinese herb supplements to be pain free and PMS symptom free all month long.
Primary source: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Source; Zhu X, et al "Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhoea" Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007;3: CD005288.
Chinese Medicine Program at the University of Western Sydney.1 (fourth issue for 2007 of The Cochrane Library).
2. Yin, J. Modern Research and Clinical Application of Chinese Materia Medica (2) pp 218-219 Beijing: Chinese Medical Classic Press.
NSAID are Non-Sterodial Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. Generics and name brands include: ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, naproxen sodium, Aleve, aspirin, Bayer, Bufferin, acetaminophen, and Tylenol.