A Book That Addresses Women's Health Issues

Chapter 61 Summer diet should be more bitter and less sweet

If one day you suddenly find that you have vesicles and ulcers in your mouth, tooth pain, bleeding, dry throat, dry and hot body, and dry stool, it means that you have already "get angry".At this time, you can eat a little bitter food, or sour food.Summer is the period when the yang energy in nature grows the most vigorously and the plants grow most prosperously. Our body should also communicate with the yang energy in nature, and follow its rising nature to "move outward" so that our own yang energy can be fully stimulated. Catharsis and stretching.However, due to the hot weather in summer, it is often accompanied by heat and damp evil, and female friends wear less clothes at this time, the skin and interstitial vents are larger, and they sweat more. Things, limbs will also become weak.There are also female friends who are very easy to "get angry" due to high work pressure or irregular life.If one day you suddenly find that you have vesicles and ulcers in your mouth, tooth pain, bleeding, dry throat, dry and hot body, and dry stool, it means that you have already "get angry".Bitter food can relieve summer heat, remove dampness, and reduce internal heat. How to relieve summer heat, remove dampness, and reduce internal heat?In addition to maintaining a regular life, you should also eat more bitter foods that "clear fire".According to traditional Chinese medicine, the bitter taste enters the heart meridian, which vents and lowers the fire in the heart. "Compendium of Materia Medica" also pointed out: "Bitterness can relieve heat and strengthen the kidneys, and there is nourishment in the diarrhea."Since modern people tend to eat more fat, sweet and delicious food than bitter taste, it often leads to excess yang energy and insufficient yin energy in the body.

Especially with the improvement of modern living standards, some female friends are overnourished, resulting in internal heat accumulation.Therefore, I suggest that we should appropriately increase our intake of bitter foods throughout the year, especially in summer.Bitter foods are rich in amino acids, vitamins, alkaloids, glycosides, etc., which have the functions of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and heat-dispelling, and fatigue-relieving, and also have a very obvious effect on the recovery of spleen and stomach motility.There are many bitter foods, such as bitter gourd, bitter cabbage, Malan, green tea, etc., which can not only clear the heart and troubles, refresh the mind, reduce inflammation and heat, but also increase appetite, invigorate the spleen and dry dampness, especially after the summer solstice. In summer, when the humidity is heavy, you should eat some bitter food appropriately.Bitter food should be eaten frequently, not too much at one time. It should be noted that eating too much bitter food or eating it for a long time will damage the spleen and stomach (especially people with weak spleen and stomach should not eat bitter food raw, otherwise it will easily cause abdominal pain), causing nausea, vomiting, etc. discomfort.Sun Simiao said in "Emergency Prescriptions for Thousands of Gold": "Bitterness goes to the bone, and eating too much bitterness makes people sick."Eating bitter foods also varies from person to person.Traditional Chinese medicine believes that bitter foods are cold and cool, and have the functions of clearing heat and purging fire, drying dampness and laxative, so it is best for female friends with weak constitutions to eat less.Patients suffering from spleen and stomach deficiency, abdominal pain, and loose stools should also stay away from bitter and cold foods, otherwise the condition will aggravate.Pregnant women should not eat more bitter food, otherwise it will stimulate uterine contraction.

Appropriately eat sour food and less sweet food. In addition to eating more bitter food in summer, you can also eat more sour food appropriately.Because sweating a lot in summer is easy to lose body fluid, and drinking too much water will dilute the stomach acid. At this time, you can eat more sour foods, such as tomatoes, strawberries, lemons, dark plums, grapes, etc., which can suppress sweat and promote body fluid, strengthen the stomach and eliminate food, and prevent constipation due to flow. Excessive sweating consumes qi and hurts yin.Eat less sweets in summer, because eating too much sweetness will cause dampness and phlegm, which will affect appetite.The weather in summer is inherently humid and hot, and the human body is prone to dampness. Eating too much sweet food will only increase the dampness and heat, causing stomach bloating and not wanting to eat.Therefore, it is best to eat less sweet food in summer.Old people often say that young people should "remember bitterness and think sweetness", but in the hot summer, we still "remember bitterness more and think sweeter less". ?Warm reminder to benefit a lifetime: Some female friends will lose weight day by day due to anorexia in summer. Although they can make themselves thinner and look slimmer, how can a malnourished body withstand the wind and rain?If you can't eat a greasy lunch, you can put a lot of effort into breakfast.For breakfast, you can eat some nutritious foods, such as milk, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, steamed buns, eggs, tomatoes, fruits, etc.If you prefer to eat porridge in the morning, you can choose nutritious eggs, meat floss, fresh fish slices, vegetables, and match it with whole wheat bread, steamed buns, etc.At this time, you can change your lunch to salty porridge, mung bean porridge, etc.; eat some whole grains, vegetables, fish, meat, and fruits for dinner.If you are hungry at night, you can drink a cup of hot milk before going to bed, which will not only make you feel hungry, but also help you sleep.

(End of this chapter)