High fever

Tofu plaster / Carp plaster

Apart from a cold wet towel, an ice pack is sometimes recommended for high fever. However, tofu absorbs heat readily and a tofu plaster can be even more effectve than an ice pack.

1. Mash about 500 grams of tofu in a bowl.
2. Slowly add some unbleached white flour until you get a paste. If you add too much flour, you will get a crumbly dough. If that happens, add more tofu, water or soy milk.
3. Spread the tofu plaster thinly on the forehead, chest or whichever part of your body that feels the most hot. Cover with a dry towel.
4. Tofu plaster can also be used to treat burns, by applying it directly on the burnt skin.

For very high fever, such as in the case of pneumonia, macrobiotic books on home remedies recommend a carp plaster. This is somewhat messy and I have not tried it before. But if your fever is really high and a tofu plaster cannot bring it down, you may want to try this.

Barley water

Two ways of using barley... Among the Chinese in Southeast Asia, barley is never eaten as a grain. Chinese families might brew a pot of barley water when someone is ill with fever - whether low grade fever or high fever - and discard the barley grains afterwards. When a friend of mine went to study macrobiotics with the late Herman Aihara at the Vega Study Centre in California, he was shocked to see the Americans do the exact opposite - they boil the barley, discard the water and eat the grains. And so he taught the Americans to use barley water, while he learned to eat barley grains. Brown rice water While barley water is effective for treating both low grade and high fever, rice water is an effective natural remedy for diarrhea and other digestive problems. One personal experience involved the friend of a friend, who was hospitalised because he could not eat anything. The doctors, worried that he was not getting any nutrition, gave him a milk-based drink loaded with vitamins and minerals. He vomited that out too. I recommended him brown rice water. And he had to lie to the doctors that he drank the milk drink when, in fact, he poured it down the sink. For the first time, his body accepted food. After two days of drinking brown rice water, he was discharged from hospital!

Barley water is commonly used by Chinese families as a fever remedy. I have taken this drink many times before but it never seemed to have much effect. I could not imagine at first how this might treat a high fever. It was only when I began to consult a Chinese physician that I found out why - the barley water should be made very thick with, say, two or more cups of barley to 8 cups of water. You should get a thick, cloudy drink, not a thin broth.

Once the barley reaches a boil, you may add a pinch of sea salt. Also, you may squeeze in some lemon juice just before serving, to make a lemon barley drink. As a fever remedy, this is best taken warm but if just for enjoyment, a cool barley drink is refreshing.

Two types of barley can be used for this fever remedy - regular barley (which may be whole grain barley or refined barley) and "China barley" which is actually a different type of grain unrelated to the barley family. China barley is said to be better as a fever remedy but if you cannot find it, regular barley will do.

China barley is called hato mugi in Japanese, or Jobs tears in the West. It is a grain that grows wild as apparently it cannot be cultivated. So all of it is "organic". But the quality varies. Poor quality grains may have a slight armonia or "urine" smell, but this is very slight. Good grains have a nice fragrance.

Roasted barley tea

Similar to barley water - similar in concept although not in taste - is barley tea, or more specifically, roasted barley tea.

This is the standard drink served at Korean restaurants. It is made by roasting whole barley grains (I believe it is regular barley, but could well be hato mugi) until dark brown and then brewed into a tea.

Roasted barley tea tastes like weak coffee and is also effective as a fever remedy.

Apple Kuzu Drink

Kuzu, the starch of a gigantic man-sized root, is a useful ingredient to know and to have at home. Depending on how you look at it, kuzu is either expensive starch or cheap medicine.

As a starch, it can be used to thicken gravies and sauces. And although it is costly. only small amounts need to be used. For example, a teaspoon of kuzu starch can replace more than a tablespoon of corn starch.

Its main value, however, is in making a range of natural remedies, including this apple-kuzu drink that is particularly suitable for treating high fever in children. Apart from reducing high fever, kuzu gives an energy boost to children who are weak and lacking in energy and helps calm down children who are hyperactive. In addition, this apple kuzu drinks stimulate appetite and relieve constipation.

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup apple juice (packet type is okay) and a very small pinch of sea salt over medium heat until bubbles form at the side, before it boils.
2. Dissolve 1 tsp kuzu in a bit of cold water. Add to the apple juice and stir to avoid lumps from forming.
3. Simmer for about one minute, until the kuzu thickens and the color changes from chalky to translucent.
4. Drink warm.

Shiitake mushroom tea

If the person has really high fever and barley water or apple-kuzu drink does not seem effective enough, then it is time to bring out one of the most potent high fever remedies (not counting the carp plaster above). This drink is so potent that you should take it slowly, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup each time. If you drink too much too fast, your high fever could well turn into a cold instead!

Apart from reducing high fever, this tea helps relax a contracted or tense condition. Taken on a regular basis, it also dissolves body fats and can be used to lower blood cholesterol levels as well.

Note: Shiitake mushrooms are different from Chinese black mushrooms in that shiitake have "cracks" on the cap whereas regular black mushrooms have just a black cap. I may be wrong about this, but my understanding is that in Chinese, regular black mushroom is called dong gu (winter mushroom) whereas shiitake is called either hua gu (flower mushroom) or xiang gu (fragrant mushroom). But a Wikipedia entry says all are variations of shiitake.

Anyway, this is how you make shiitake mushroom tea:

1. Soak one dried shiitake mushroom in one cup of water for 10 to 20 minutes or until soft. Chop finely.
2. Bring to a boil the shiitake and its soaking water. Reduce flame and simnmer or 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add either a pinch of sea salt at the start of the cooking, or a few drops of shoyu toward the end. For young children, below two years old, do not add any seasoning.
4. Drink while hot.

AS mentioned above, drink no more than 1/2 cup each time. Monitor the body temperature and drink again after a few hours if the fever persists.

Since fever is one of the main symptoms of the flu, you may also wish to visit my Flu Treatments website for more about high fever and the flu.