Winter Health Preservation
Let's talk about how to maintain health during the beginning of winter season. The beginning of winter must follow the rules of winter health preservation. What are the rules for winter health preservation? It is a law in nature that all things are closed and hidden. Because it is born in spring and grows in summer, harvested in autumn and stored in winter, and mainly stored in winter.
Winter storage
What should we do at this time? We should nourish the kidneys, retain essence, store vitality, nourish yin and kidney, while also dispelling cold and protecting yang qi. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cold is a yin evil that often harms yang qi. The yang energy of the human body is like the sun in the sky, which is what Zhang Jiebin said: the yang energy of the human body is like sunlight. "If the sky and the sun are lost, it will shorten one's life and not show off." Our human body's "true yang" is like the source of energy in nature, just like the sun. It gives us light and warmth. If we lose the yang energy, the human body will weaken, just like nature loses the sun, and organisms will not be able to survive. So when the human body lacks yang energy, it will weaken and lose the vitality of metabolism and blood circulation. So after the beginning of winter, we must cultivate and store all the Yin essence and Yang energy in our body, and focus on storage for maintenance.
At this time, we need to maintain our health through the following aspects. Which aspects?
Eat nutritious food
The first one is our diet and daily life. We all know that winter is also a time for collecting. So since it's a collection, we need to supplement it. The first thing is that we need to supplement our diet. What do we need to nourish our bodies in winter? The general principle of winter diet is to consume nutritious foods. At this time, it is important to eat foods that are high in protein or calories, but also foods that are rich in vitamins, trace elements, calcium ions, iron ions, and zinc ions, as well as fresh vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, sesame seeds, and so on. Avoid eating foods that are cold in nature, such as grapes, bananas, spinach, and other cold foods. This is the first step.
Prevent stomach and lung coldness
At the same time, to prevent stomach cold and lung cold, we can also drink some hot Congee and hot Congee to resist the cold. So here I recommend a Congee that you often drink. If you feel cold, or accidentally catch a cold, or feel a little cold, what should we drink? It's about drinking brown sugar and ginger water, making soup with brown sugar and ginger. After making the soup, for example, when we are going to do some outdoor exercise or outdoor work today, drinking this kind of water made of ginger and brown sugar before going out. After drinking it, you feel that your body is full of yang energy and your hands and feet are warm. At this time, when you engage in outdoor activities or work, you will feel that your ability to keep warm will be strengthened. It can prevent colds and wind chill. These are some preparations we make before exercising, which can be used to resist the cold.
Eating warming soup
We all know that winter corresponds to the five elements of water and the five organs of the kidneys. The color corresponding to the kidneys is black, so according to the traditional thinking of ancient Chinese medicine, black enters the kidneys. Therefore, you can see that there are many traditional Chinese medicines for tonifying the kidneys that are black in color, such as mulberries, raw earth, and earth bone skin, which are all black. Some of our food has a black outer skin. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, these foods also belong to the category of nourishing the kidneys. For example, black sesame, black jujube, black rice, black fungus and other foods are all black and very suitable for winter consumption. In addition, there are also foods such as seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, and kelp that are also black and suitable for winter consumption.
For the elderly and women, they should also eat more warm foods in winter, especially those with insufficient yang energy. They are particularly afraid of the cold in winter, which can easily cause problems such as colds and cold hands and feet. Especially for some women, due to poor blood circulation and insufficient qi and blood, their hands and feet may become cold in winter, and they are prone to facial blemishes. This is because the body's yang energy is insufficient and the circulation of qi and blood is weak, making it difficult to moisturize the skin. So the skin lacks vitality.
At this point, we suggest that elderly people or women with insufficient yang energy can drink carrot, brown sugar, ginger, and onion soup. This soup can put some Congee, such as black rice, which is turned into carrots, brown sugar, onions, and ginger, and then put black rice on it to stew a bowl of such Congee. Add less onions and not too much ginger. Add five slices of ginger, a quarter of an onion, brown sugar, carrots, and black rice. This soup can nourish and warm the body, regulate internal organs, enhance our immune system and resistance, and promote blood circulation, thus nourishing the body's qi and blood.
We all know that carrots and brown sugar are nourishing for qi and blood. What are onions and ginger for? Onion can moisturize the skin, enhance immunity, and moisturize the lungs. Its pungent flavor enters the lungs and strengthens lung qi. Ginger can nourish the spleen and stomach, enhance yang qi. But don't put too much of either of these. If there is too much ginger, it will make you sweat, and once you sweat, it will dissipate your yang energy, which is not good. So traditional Chinese medicine pays special attention to moderation. I have found that many people eat ginger every day. How much do they eat at once? Eat more than half a pound. Eating more than three or two at once, after eating too much ginger, the whole stomach becomes particularly spicy after drinking it, and the whole body becomes hot and sweaty, which actually damages the yang energy. So I suggest everyone not to eat too much ginger, just cut it into five slices. Cut it into five pieces, the size and thickness of a coin. We cut the onion into a quarter. The function of onions not only enhances immunity, but also has a very good effect on cardiovascular health, which is very helpful for cardiovascular maintenance. This is the effect of ginger and onions.
To boil black rice together, black rice has a dark color that enters the kidneys. At the same time, black rice contains some nutrients, vitamins, and trace elements. Research has found that it also clears free radicals, antioxidants, and has certain beauty effects. So this soup is very suitable for elderly people and women with weak and cold physical constitution to drink, as a dish for health preservation. This is dietary therapy.
Precautions for eating hotpot
We all know that there are some precautions to take when eating in winter. What is the most commonly eaten food in winter? It's hotpot. Especially in the north, we start eating hotpot in winter. So there are some precautions to take when eating hotpot. Here, I would like to remind everyone that the first one is that we should focus on vegetables when eating hotpot. If we eat too much meat, it is particularly easy to get overheated and greasy, leading to an increase in moisture in the body. Therefore, when eating hotpot, we should add more vegetables, including tofu, mushrooms, and other foods, so that the nutrition is balanced when combined.
The second is to master the heat, which not only ensures that nutrients are not lost, but also ensures sufficient killing of bacteria in food. So I suggest that this hotpot, especially when cooking some meat dishes or difficult to cook foods, should be boiled for 15 minutes after the pot is boiling before it can be eaten. Why? Because this is the only way to achieve the standard of fully eliminating bacteria.
The third one is to try not to drink hotpot soup, why? Because many people are not familiar with it, many people eat meat or seafood when eating hotpot, as well as some vegetables, including some mushroom foods. During the long-term cooking process, these foods will contain high concentrations of purine substances. Eating too much purine substances can easily trigger gout, so many people develop gout after eating a hot pot meal. What are the reasons? It's because the purine content here is too high, so don't drink the soup in this hotpot because the purine concentration here may be relatively high.
The fourth point is that when we eat hot pot, we should not eat it too spicy or too hot, to avoid excessive congestion or edema of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the esophagus, stomach, and intestines, which can easily lead to some gastrointestinal problems. This is the precautions for eating hotpot, and I would like to remind everyone to pay attention.
The benefits of walnuts
Another great food in winter is walnuts, especially for nourishing the kidneys. Eating walnuts in combination is also very good. Walnuts can promote diuresis and moisten the intestines, as well as warm the lungs and dispel diseases. In winter, it is perfect for nourishing the kidneys, nourishing kidney essence, and strengthening the body. In winter, people are prone to lung qi deficiency and upper respiratory tract infections. At this time, eating walnuts can enhance lung qi, which are some health precautions.
In winter, one should sleep in early and wake up late
Next, let's talk about the precautions for daily routine. The first one is sleep time. Sleep time should be early. According to the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, in winter, we should sleep early and wake up late, that is, we should rest early and wake up late to move around. This is called "waiting for sunlight". We should go to bed early and cooperate with the collection of qi from heaven and earth to nourish our kidneys. Waking up later or going out for activities later means waiting until the sun comes out before going out for activities. This can help our bodies adapt to the natural collection period. The more we maintain our health in this way, the stronger our bodies will be. Don't stay up late in winter and go out for exercise early, braving the cold wind. Going out for exercise after dark can easily trigger various diseases. So we need to wake up everyone here, especially the elderly with hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. We must arrange time for winter exercise. If there is cooling, heavy snow or rain, we should try not to go outdoors to avoid such complications as heart disease, hypertension and stroke.
Other precautions---
To be continued, Culture and Health Preservation 5 is even more exciting
Disclaimer: This article is a sharing of health knowledge. The drugs, prescriptions, acupuncture and moxibustion and other treatment and health preserving methods mentioned in this article should be applied under the guidance of professional doctors, and should not be applied by yourself. We are not responsible for any issues arising from improper use.