The focus of autumn health care is to benefit the lungs and moisten dryness
After the autumn equinox, how can four different constitutions prevent autumn dryness through food?
The autumnal equinox is the sixteenth of the twenty-four solar terms and the fourth of autumn.
According to the lunar calendar, "Liqiu" is the beginning of autumn, and it ends when "Frostfall". "Autumn Equinox" is exactly half of the 90 days from Liqiu to Frostfall.
The autumnal equinox in 2022 will be on September 23.
The autumn equinox diet focuses on nourishing the lungs and moistening dryness.
The ancients had a saying of "salt in the morning and honey in the evening" in response to autumn dryness, which means that adding a little salt to boiled water in the morning makes it salty to enter the kidneys; drinking honey water in the evening can strengthen the lungs and spleen and moisten the intestines.
The theory of traditional Chinese medicine says that the lung likes moistening and hates dryness, and the key to nourishing the lungs in autumn is to prevent dryness.
Autumn dryness invades the lungs and easily damages body fluids, causing symptoms such as throat disease and coughing.
Different physiques are susceptible to dryness, and prevention and maintenance also need to be treated differently.
Physique 1: Warm and dry.
During the autumnal equinox, the summer heat is not completely dissipated, and it merges with the dry air of autumn to form the characteristic of "warm dryness".
Warm and dry, with dry cough as the main symptom, often accompanied by thirst, dry mouth, thick and yellow phlegm, sore throat, and restlessness.
The tongue sticking out is often reddish and dry, and the tongue coating is yellow.
Usually easy to get angry, or people with yin deficiency and liver stagnation constitution are prone to appear.
For warm dryness, there is a classic ointment for nourishing the lungs and moisturizing dryness - Qiu Li ointment.
There are many versions of Qiu Li Gao, which can be made from pears, loquat, lily, Polygonatum japonica, dried tangerine peel, licorice, jujube and other medicinal materials that resolve phlegm, relieve cough, and nourish qi and moisten dryness.
Since ancient times, physicians have loved to hear it and used it, and later it was introduced to the court, where it was used by the Empress Dowager Cixi to nourish the body.
The main ingredient of Qiu Li ointment is Qiu Li, which can nourish lung yin, clear lung heat, resolve phlegm and relieve cough.
Made of paste, nourishing yin and moisturizing dryness, mild and not cold.
Among them, loquat, lily, and Polygonatum japonica moisten the lungs, resolve phlegm and relieve cough; tangerine peel dries dampness, resolves phlegm, and regulates qi; licorice and jujube harmonize the spleen and stomach, nourish qi and nourish blood; and rock sugar for moistening the lungs, relieving cough and resolving phlegm can also be added appropriately.
The combination of various medicines plays the role of nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, soothing the throat and resolving phlegm.
It can be eaten directly or soaked in water. It should be used by people with dry cough in autumn, excessive throat use, old smokers, and those with yin deficiency and fire.
Physique 2: Cool and dry.
After the fall, the weather is getting cooler, the wind and cold attack the lungs, and more people are disturbed by the coolness.
Usually, the spleen and stomach are deficient, and eating cold is easy to have diarrhea. People with this type of deficient constitution are easily damaged by the cold and dryness, and it is necessary to prevent it in advance.
In addition to dry cough, the symptoms caused by cool dryness include fear of cold, nasal congestion, runny nose, and less phlegm and white phlegm.
The tongue sticking out is often dry and the tongue coating is thin and white.
Almonds and walnuts are the first choice for improving the symptoms of coolness.
Almonds enter the lung and large intestine meridians, nourish the lungs and moisten the intestines, relieve cough and relieve asthma.
According to the theory of Chinese medicine, the lung and the large intestine are related to the outside and inside, so constipation will also occur during dry cough.
Seeds are rich in oil, which can relieve cough and relieve asthma, and can also moisten the intestines and laxatives. It is very suitable for dry cough and constipation.
Physique 3: Fear of cold and weak.
Some middle-aged and elderly people have cough and asthma as soon as autumn comes, and their throat is dry and uncomfortable.
Essentially, it is physical weakness and lack of righteousness.
Usually afraid of cold, backache, chest tightness, shortness of breath, in the cold and dry season, it is more likely to have a cough attack and the condition will worsen.
This year, the heat is heavier and the yin is depleted, making the situation even more severe for people with weak constitutions.
After experiencing autumn dryness, it is easy to suffer from cough, accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, lack of breath, lazy speech, and inability to expectorate.
To treat this symptom, the focus is on tonifying deficiency, and it is a deep tonifying deficiency.
Deep moisturizing and nourishing, you can use Tremella soup.
In addition to nourishing white fungus, adding Sydney to clear heat and eliminate vexation, lily to clear the heart and soothe the nerves, almonds to moisten the lungs and relieve cough, and wolfberry to nourish the kidney and nourish the liver.
A total of nourishing yin and moistening dryness, tonic and soothe the nerves, deeply moisturizing the internal organs.
It is especially suitable for people with dry skin and hair, cough due to deficiency of lung yin and sleepless nights.
Because Tremella soup is especially moisturizing, people with heavy phlegm should use it with caution.
Physique four: Liver fire is exuberant.
Some friends may find that people are particularly prone to cough after being angry.
This is because people who are often angry tend to have more anger, and the anger is committed to the lungs. Chinese medicine calls it "wood fire torture gold". In addition to coughing, it is often accompanied by dizziness, headache, insomnia and other symptoms.
To astringe the liver fire, you can eat more sour foods appropriately, because the sour taste enters the liver and has the effect of astringent and calming the liver.
Green plum can promote fluid and nourish yin, astringe the liver and moisten the lungs.
There is a kind of basil plum cake on the market, which is added with another traditional Chinese medicine, basil, which has the same origin as medicine and food. The basil can relieve the exterior and dispel cold, promote qi and stomach, widen the chest and regulate qi, and can also relieve the poison of fish and crabs.
It is especially suitable for those with cough, dry throat and yin deficiency.
Perilla and green plum, one is scattered and one is collected, rising and falling, dispelling cold and regulating Qi.
It is the season when crabs are plump. When eating crabs, a little basil plum cake can also prevent diarrhea.
Text/Li Huai (Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Internal Medicine, Beijing Drum Tower Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Knowledge link
During the autumn equinox, there is a type of vegetables that are especially suitable for autumn!
During the autumn equinox, the temperature gradually decreases, the climate becomes relatively dry, and it is prone to autumn dryness and constipation.
In this season's diet, the general principles of reasonable diet and balanced nutrition should still be followed, and it is recommended to often eat yam and other potato foods.
The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" recommends: eat 50-100 grams of potatoes every day.
Fiber in potatoes, etc.
Helps prevent constipation
Potatoes include sweet potatoes, potatoes, yam, taro, etc.
Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, carotene, vitamin C, iron and calcium. The cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin contained in potatoes help intestinal peristalsis and prevent constipation.
Studies have shown that increasing the intake of potatoes can reduce the risk of constipation, and can reduce the incidence of hard and dry stools and difficult defecation.
Yam is a potato, rich in carbohydrates, a variety of vitamins, including carotene, vitamins B1 and B2, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and other minerals, but also rich in dietary fiber.
What kinds of yam are there?
There are many varieties of yam, and the more well-known ones are iron stick yam and Chinese yam.
Iron stick yam is mainly produced in Henan and Shandong areas. Compared with ordinary yam, it has more hairs, white color, less water, high viscosity, and a strong body.
Chinese yam, also known as water yam, is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Anhui and other places, and its stems are usually purple-red.
The yam root is cylindrical, with thin skin, fine hairs on the surface, yellow, with yellow-brown moles, and white flesh.
There are also hemp yam, lingzhi yam and Yamato yam imported from Japan.
Recommend several ways to eat yam
There are many ways to eat yam, including raw, steamed, boiled, stewed, fried, fried, etc.
From the perspective of health, it is recommended to use more raw and steamed, boiled and stewed methods, and less fried methods.
Because after frying, it will increase the energy content of the food.
1. Eat raw: Wash and eat directly, look white and crisp, or eat cold.
2. Steaming: It is very easy to eat. You can eat it directly after it is cooked. You can also dip it in some sugar or honey to taste, or make it into blueberry yam.
3. Cooking: You can cook porridge. You can put a little yam when you cook millet porridge, rice porridge or multigrain porridge, or you can make yam and pumpkin porridge.
4. Stew: It can be stewed with meat, spareribs yam, black chicken yam, or stewed with potatoes, beans, etc.
5. Stir-fry: It can be fried separately, or it can be fried together with fungus, one white and one black, the contrast is bright, and the taste is good; it can also be made into fried pork slices with yam.
6. Deep-fried: the most famous yam, and the yam with honey juice.
Text / Dr. Ma Health Group