Eating according to the seasons throughout the year can effectively clear heat, detoxify, and benefit the spleen and stomach, ensuring health and longevity!
These foods, consumed throughout the year, are more effective than any tonic! Don’t believe it? Then give it a try!
January: Yam Benefits the Spleen and Stomach
Yam grows in the soil, its color resembling earth, and in the Five Elements, it belongs to Earth, which corresponds to the spleen. It has excellent benefits for the spleen and is known as a “food medicine.”
Yam Congee
Yam has a particularly good effect on benefiting the spleen and stomach, and congee is also a food that nourishes the stomach. Drinking a bowl of yam congee daily will help maintain a healthy spleen and stomach by spring.
Method: Use equal parts of japonica rice and glutinous rice to cook the congee, adding an appropriate amount of yam until cooked.
Longan Yam Soup
Yam has excellent effects of tonifying the middle, benefiting qi, and nourishing blood, which can improve symptoms of cold hands and feet in winter.
Method: 15 grams of longan meat, 30 grams of yam, and 100 grams of rice. Wash the rice clean and put it in a pot with longan meat and yam, add an appropriate amount of water, and cook over low heat until done.
Spring is the Right Time to Nourish the Liver
【Bo Yi Culture】 Poor liver function indicates issues with liver function or a history of chronic liver disease, often presenting symptoms such as fatigue, jaundice, and other discomforts like yellowing of the skin, face, and urine, along with general weakness and poor appetite.
For patients with liver cirrhosis, symptoms may include loose stools and increased frequency of bowel movements. When cirrhosis symptoms are pronounced, it may even be accompanied by palmar erythema, spider angiomas, or abnormal bleeding. Abnormal bleeding includes nosebleeds and gum bleeding.
February: Ginger Stops Vomiting and Clears the Stomach
As the saying goes, “With ginger at home, small illnesses are not a worry.” Although ginger is often overlooked due to its bland color, it plays the role of a “kitchen doctor.”
Ginger Congee
Ginger is known as a “miracle drug for stopping vomiting.” This congee can relieve nausea, clear the stomach, and regulate qi and blood, making it especially suitable for those experiencing vomiting in early pregnancy.
Method: Peel, wash, and slice ginger into thin strips, then add to the congee while cooking.
Sweet and Sour Ginger Slices
Ginger’s pungent compounds can stimulate bile secretion, accelerate fat breakdown, and promote intestinal peristalsis, alleviating bloating.
Method: Peel and slice ginger thinly, blanch in boiling water, then cool in cold water, and mix with salt, MSG, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil.
March: Honey Aids Digestion
Flower nectar is a gift from a hundred flowers, and the bees’ collection adds a touch of nature’s magic. Based on the principle of harmony between humans and nature, this natural food is most beneficial to health.
Hangover Relief
Honey contains a special fructose that promotes the breakdown and absorption of alcohol, alleviating headache symptoms. Additionally, honey protects the liver and can repair liver cell damage caused by alcohol.
Usage: After drinking, mix a cup of honey water that is much stronger than usual and drink it.
Promoting Digestion
Honey has a regulatory effect on gastrointestinal function, stimulating gastric acid secretion and enhancing intestinal peristalsis.
Usage: To promote digestion, it is best to drink honey water half an hour before meals; drinking it 2-3 hours after meals may inhibit gastric acid secretion.
Spring is the Right Time to Nourish the Liver
【Bo Yi Culture】 In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the liver is responsible for storing blood. Insufficient liver blood often leads to symptoms of blood deficiency, with patients appearing pale, sallow, and even experiencing eye problems. The liver opens to the eyes; when liver blood is insufficient, patients may experience decreased vision, dizziness, and blurred vision, which TCM attributes to liver blood deficiency. When liver blood is insufficient, TCM uses methods to nourish liver yin and replenish liver blood, alleviating symptoms through tonifying liver yin and nourishing liver blood.
April: Lemon Leaves Increase Appetite
In spring, people feel lazy, and gastric juices are sluggish, leading to a lack of appetite. We need a sour herb to stimulate the stomach and awaken the appetite.
Lemon Leaf Soup with Pig Lung
Lemon leaves have the effect of resolving phlegm, stopping cough, regulating qi, and stimulating appetite. This soup has a slightly sour taste, which can help those with poor digestion due to the dry spring climate.
Method: Blanch pig lung, cut into slices, and simmer with 15 grams of lemon leaves and 2-3 slices of ginger in a clay pot with 8 bowls of water (about 2000 milliliters) for 2 hours, then season with salt and a little oil.
Lemon Leaves for Hangover Relief
Can improve heaviness after drinking, with effects of relieving hangover and brightening the eyes.
Method: Use 2 lemon leaves, add sugar, and brew as tea.
May: Lavender Calms the Mind
Lavender has a light and distant fragrance that soothes the mind. Dried flowers can be used for food therapy or made into sachets and pillows.
Sachet Pillow
Lavender has excellent calming and soothing effects, which can treat tension headaches, palpitations, and insomnia.
Method: Mix 80% of the main pillow material (buckwheat husk, tea leaves, etc.) with 20% lavender to make a pillow. Alternatively, put lavender in a cloth bag, sew it into a small pouch, and place it in the pillow.
In Tea
Drinking lavender tea can calm emotions and relieve physical and mental fatigue.
Method: Use 1 teaspoon of lavender and 6 mint leaves, place in a teapot, add 300 milliliters of hot water, and steep for 10-15 minutes.
June: Honeysuckle Clears Heat and Detoxifies
Honeysuckle is known as the “little immortal of the pharmacy,” with a naturally sweet and cold nature, capable of clearing heat and detoxifying, making it suitable for summer.
Three Flower Tea
Clears heat and detoxifies, treating headaches, thirst, and sore throat.
Usage: 10 grams of honeysuckle, 10 grams of chrysanthemum, and 3 grams of jasmine, steeped in boiling water for tea.
Honeysuckle Mint Tea
Suitable for treating prickly heat.
Usage: Brew honeysuckle and mint in boiling water, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes, then add honey.
July: Mint Refreshes the Mind
Mint is refreshing and pleasant, dispersing wind, dissipating heat, and stimulating appetite, making it ideal for consumption in hot summer.
Mint Congee
Refreshing and invigorating, it enhances appetite and aids digestion. In summer, when appetite decreases, adding mint to dishes is most stimulating.
Method: Boil 15 grams of fresh mint leaves in 500 milliliters of water to make mint juice, then add to 60 grams of japonica rice cooked into congee, along with an appropriate amount of rock sugar, and boil again.
Hair Wash
Using mint tea to wash hair can eliminate dandruff, refresh the hair, and provide a natural fragrance that invigorates the spirit.
Spring is the Right Time to Nourish the Liver
【Bo Yi Culture】 Liver stagnation can lead to symptoms such as lack of appetite, insomnia, fatigue, and may also present with dull skin, dark complexion, and pain in the liver area. Some patients may also experience jaundice, such as yellowing of the eyes and skin.
August: Mung Beans Cool and Clear Heat
Botanically, mung beans are a type of plant that bears fruit in autumn. From a herbal perspective, mung beans are most precious in summer for their ability to reduce fire and dryness.
Mung Bean and Kelp Sweet Soup
Mung beans clear heat and detoxify, while kelp reduces swelling and promotes diuresis. This sweet soup helps lower blood lipids and benefits the stomach.
Method: Soak 100 grams of mung beans in water for half an hour, wash 30 grams of kelp, cut into small sections, and add to a pot with a piece of dried tangerine peel, then boil with water for 2 hours, adding an appropriate amount of rock sugar.
Mung Bean Cake
Mung beans are effective in cooling and detoxifying, and are particularly suitable for making at home.
Method: Cook 100 grams of mung beans until soft, mash into a paste, add 50 grams of flour and an appropriate amount of sugar, mix into a thin batter, and steam for 15-20 minutes. Once cooled, cut into small pieces.
September: Lotus Seed Heart Treats Insomnia
Lotus seed heart tea is available year-round in tea houses and herbal shops. In summer, it is convenient to pick fresh lotus hearts from green lotus pods and brew a cup of clear tea.
Lotus Seed Heart Tea
Can clear heat, relieve irritability, and generate fluids, making it an excellent summer drink.
Method: Place 1 teaspoon of dried lotus seed hearts in a clear glass, add boiling water, steep for about ten minutes, then add honey and lemon slices for a clear and flavorful lotus seed heart tea.
Lotus Seed Heart Drink
Lotus seed hearts have a calming effect, especially effective for insomnia due to yin deficiency and excess heat.
Method: Boil 3 grams of lotus seed hearts with 1.5 grams of salt, then drink before bed.
October: Euryale Seed Strengthens the Spleen and Stomach
Euryale seeds are often used as a companion plant for lotus flowers, but they have kidney-strengthening properties that surpass those of lotus seeds. They are particularly suitable for consumption in the autumn replenishment season.
Euryale Seed Congee
Euryale seeds have effects of strengthening the spleen and benefiting the stomach, and regular consumption is a shortcut to increasing qi and blood.
Method: Cook 30 grams of euryale seeds, 20 grams of coix seeds, 50 grams of yam, and 100 grams of glutinous rice together in water to make congee.
Euryale Seed Soup
Euryale seeds are easy to digest, highly nutritious, and can tonify the spleen and stomach, benefiting qi and nourishing blood. Cooking with lean meat can replenish vital energy and is beneficial for relieving neuralgia, headaches, joint pain, and lower back pain.
Method: Cook 60 grams of euryale seeds, 100 grams of lean beef, 10 red dates, and 30 grams of peanuts with seasonings to make soup.
November: Hawthorn Aids Digestion
Hawthorn pills, candied hawthorn, and hawthorn jelly bring joy whenever the bright red hawthorn is in season.
Stir-Fried Red Hawthorn
The sour taste of hawthorn benefits the secretion of digestive enzymes in the stomach, promoting the digestion of accumulated food.
Method: Wash hawthorn, remove the pits, boil with water until boiling, add an appropriate amount of rock sugar, then simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally until the hawthorn is soft and the juice thickens.
Osmanthus Hawthorn Jelly
Hawthorn invigorates blood circulation, alleviates pain, and is effective for relieving menstrual pain, best consumed a few days before menstruation.
Method: Boil hawthorn with sugar for 15 minutes, add agar and boil for another 3 minutes, then arrange the whole hawthorn evenly on a plate, pour in the juice, and sprinkle with osmanthus sugar, then cool.
December: Ejiao Nourishes Qi and Blood
Ejiao is one of the three treasures of traditional Chinese medicine, known for its remarkable effects in nourishing blood, moistening dryness, and is a great tonic for winter.
Ejiao and Astragalus Congee
This is a “dual tonic congee” for both qi and blood. Some individuals with blood deficiency may also have qi deficiency; combining blood-nourishing ejiao with qi-tonifying herbs like astragalus and codonopsis can enhance the nourishing and health-promoting effects.
Method: Cook 20 grams of ejiao, 20 grams of astragalus, along with brown sugar and glutinous rice to make congee.
Sesame Walnut Ejiao Paste
Effective for symptoms such as lower back pain, cold intolerance, tinnitus, and yin deficiency in winter.
Method: Melt 30 grams of ejiao in 70 milliliters of yellow wine, then add black sesame, walnuts, and an appropriate amount of water, along with 50 grams of rock sugar, and steam for 1 hour while stirring continuously. After cooling, store in the refrigerator and take two teaspoons every morning and evening.
Spring Brings Everything to Life: The Path to Nourishing the Liver, Nourishing Blood with Lasting Harmony Spring Spring Liver Nourishment
The three months of spring are a time for renewal and new beginnings, a season of life awakening. Nature is vibrant, and everything flourishes. During this time, people should sleep early and rise early, loosen their hair, and relax their clothing to ease their bodies. They should take leisurely walks in the courtyard to uplift their spirits and maintain a sense of vitality. Avoid excessive aggression, practice generosity, reward more and punish less, as this aligns with the spring season and is a method to nurture the vital energy. If one goes against the spring energy, it can harm the liver and create conditions that are insufficient for the growth of summer energy, leading to cold-related diseases in summer.
The liver is the body’s main detoxification organ. During metabolism, our bodies produce many harmful substances, and external drugs and toxins also need detoxification. The liver transforms these toxic substances into non-toxic or less toxic substances through chemical reactions such as oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, and conjugation, and then excretes them from the body.
Warm
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