Autumn Health Knowledge Revealed: Dietary Guide To Prevent Dryness, Protect Yin, And Reduce Pungency And Increase Acidity

After autumn comes, the temperature gradually turns from hot to cold, which corresponds to the seasonal change of "Yang disappears and Yin grows" in traditional Chinese medicine. The human body's physiological activities will naturally transition from the state of long summer to the rhythm of autumn harvest. Many people will experience dry mouth and gastrointestinal discomfort during the change of seasons, and they cannot find suitable health care methods.

A team of experts based in Guizhou, from the Gastroenterology Department of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, combined with traditional Chinese medicine theory, compiled this practical food maintenance plan to help everyone regulate the yin energy in the body in accordance with the seasons, maintain health through daily diet and eat wisely, so as to smoothly survive the cool autumn period during the change of seasons.

Understand the pathogenic characteristics of autumn dryness

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that dryness is the dominant air in autumn, which is often mentioned as autumn dryness. In a dry climate with long sunny days and scanty rainfall, dryness can easily invade the human body.

From the perspective of the relationship between the organs, the lungs have the function of controlling qi and are responsible for breathing. The lungs and the fur are related to each other, and they also have an external and internal relationship with the large intestine. When the humidity in the air decreases, the lungs will be affected first, the large intestine will be affected first, and the skin and mucous membranes will also be affected first.

After dryness consumes body fluids, common discomforts such as dry mouth, dry lips, dry nose and throat, dry tongue and less fluid, constipation, and chapped skin will appear.

The lungs themselves are delicate organs that like moisture but hate dryness. If dryness invades the lungs, dry cough with less phlegm will occur in mild cases, and the phlegm will be sticky and difficult to cough up. When the situation is severe, the lung collaterals may be damaged, resulting in bloodshot phlegm. After the body fluid is depleted, it cannot moisturize the large intestine. This will also cause the stool to become dry and hard to relieve. Proper treatment and conditioning can reduce such problems caused by the change of seasons.

Choose symptomatic foods that are refreshing, dry and promote body fluids in autumn

Daily diet can be based on specific conditions and choose common ingredients that can moisten the lungs, clear dryness, nourish yin and promote fluid production. For example, common ingredients such as pears, common ingredients such as sugar cane, common ingredients such as water chestnuts, common ingredients such as grapefruit, common ingredients such as loquats, common ingredients such as bananas, common ingredients such as lilies, and common ingredients such as yams, which are common medicinal and food sources. There is no need to buy expensive supplements, as long as they are properly matched every day, they will have a nourishing effect.

In early autumn, the dampness and heat have not completely subsided. In normal times, you can still eat some appropriate foods, such as adzuki beans and white lentils, which have the effect of strengthening the spleen and dehumidifying. They can prevent dampness, heat and cold-dampness from accumulating in the body, and reduce the possibility of enteritis and dysentery caused by the change of seasons.

If your spleen and stomach function tends to be weak, and you often experience abdominal distension and unformed stools, you should be careful not to consume too many cooling yin-nourishing foods at one meal. You can gradually adjust your spleen and stomach function first, and then try to eat yin-nourishing foods and medicinal meals in small amounts to avoid adding extra burden to the gastrointestinal tract.

Adhere to the dietary principle of less pungent and more acid

For a long time, traditional Chinese medicine has emphasized that the principle of "less pungent and more acid" should be mastered in autumn health care. Why? This is because if the lung qi is too strong, the liver wood will be suppressed, and eating more acidic foods can strengthen the function of the liver, thus balancing the internal organs during the change of seasons in autumn and winter.

Pay attention to reducing the intake of spicy foods. In autumn, try to reduce the consumption of spicy foods such as onions, ginger, garlic, leeks, and peppercorns. Choose more seasonal vegetables and fruits with sour flavors, such as apples, pomegranates, mangoes, grapefruits, lemons, and hawthorns. They are all very suitable choices.

With the help of daily diet, we can replenish lung qi, nourish kidney yin, nourish blood in the liver, and moisturize the intestines. Only by following this set of principles can we be more consistent with the rhythm of autumn harvest and prevent dryness from causing damage to the body. Moreover, this set of principles has more reference value for ordinary healthy people and people with blood and yin deficiency constitutions.

Recommended hot porridge to warm the stomach and nourish the body in autumn

The traditional diet has always attached great importance to the nourishing effect of warm porridge. The nature and taste of japonica rice and glutinous rice are sweet and mild, and they have quite good effects on strengthening the spleen and stomach and replenishing qi. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" mentions that japonica rice ranks first among the five grains and is an extremely peaceful food that can replenish vitality.

"Suixiju Diet Manual" also mentions that porridge and rice are the first things in the world that can nourish people. Even people who are in a weak state, are in the postoperative or postpartum stage, can use thick rice soup instead of ginseng soup for recuperation, and they can still get good results.

In autumn, japonica rice is mixed with different ingredients to cook porridge that can be used as medicine or food, such as gorgon porridge, lotus seed porridge, barley rice porridge, and lily porridge. It has twice the functions of harmonizing the stomach, strengthening the spleen, and nourishing the lungs. It can also be paired with whole grains such as oats and buckwheat, as well as lotus root, radish, fungus, fresh mushrooms, and other foods. The porridge needs to be eaten when it is warm, and is especially suitable for the elderly and people with weak gastrointestinal function.

Follow the changes in the climate of the four seasons, adjust your daily diet, do not blindly supplement, and do not overeat cold food, so that the state of the human body can naturally adapt to the changes in the seasons. In this way, you can effectively implement health care into your daily diet, improve your immunity through a step-by-step approach, reduce the feeling of physical discomfort during the change of seasons, and gradually achieve the long-term health goal of nourishing the body and preventing diseases.

This time, Director Zheng Kai, an expert in the Department of Gastroenterology of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guizhou, will have a consultation on October 9, which is the morning of Wednesday. Citizens who need consultation on digestive issues can do so by dialing the appointment hotline 0851-82269999, or by scanning the code on the hospital's WeChat official account or mini program to complete the registration appointment operation.