Introduction
As practitioners of life cultivation, we adapt our lifestyle with the changing seasons to live more comfortably and healthily. With autumn upon us, it’s crucial to adjust our diet and habits to strengthen our physical fitness and prevent illnesses. Here are some health and diet tips to help you thrive this autumn.
Nourish Your Lungs
Autumn’s dry air can deplete lung fluid, so it’s essential to eat foods that moisturize the lungs and nourish yin. Incorporate foods like lily, white fungus, lotus seeds, and pears into your diet. Delicious options include lily and white fungus soup or pear with rock sugar soup, both of which serve as nourishing desserts.
Strengthen Your Stomach
After a summer of hard work, the spleen and stomach may be weakened. Strengthen them by consuming foods like Chinese yam, lentils, and barley. These can be easily digested in soups or porridges, which help replenish yuanqi and support digestive health.
Moisturize Your Skin and Mouth
Dry skin, mouth, nose, and throat are common in autumn. Combat these symptoms by eating foods that nourish yin and moisten dryness, such as honey, sesame seeds, walnuts, and duck meat. These foods help alleviate discomfort and keep you hydrated.
Opt for Less Spicy, More Sour Foods
According to the wuxing theory of traditional herbal medicine, lung-qi strengthens in autumn, and spicy foods can damage the lungs. Reduce intake of spicy foods like onions, ginger, garlic, and peppers. Instead, consume more sour foods like hawthorn, grapes, and lemons to nourish the liver and protect the spleen.
Practice Mild Tonification
Autumn is an ideal time for tonification, but it’s important not to overdo it to avoid burdening the spleen and stomach. Add mild tonics like red dates, goji berries, and astragalus to your diet in moderation, especially if you are older or weaker.
Adjust Your Daily Routine
As the weather cools, adjust your work and rest schedule. Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier to ensure adequate sleep. This helps calm the spirit, relax the lungs, and reduce the risk of autumn-related illnesses.
Stay Physically Active
Engage in moderate physical exercise during autumn. Avoid strenuous activities that cause excessive sweating and depletion of yuanqi, particularly if you are older or weaker. Opt for gentle exercises like walking, jogging, or practicing tai chi to strengthen your body and boost immunity without overexertion.
02 Recommended Foods for Autumn
How should we eat to nourish our stomach in autumn? The large temperature difference between morning and evening can easily lead to stomach discomfort, such as stomach cold. To nourish our stomach, we must arrange our diet reasonably. Here are some foods particularly beneficial for our health in autumn:
Corn
While we’re most familiar with sunny yellow corn, there are many varieties—from pink to blue to black—each with its own special antioxidant nutrients. Each ear of corn or half a cup of kernels has about two grams of fiber. Popcorn is also high in fiber, but be mindful of added butter and sugar.
Apples
Rich in vitamins, apples also contain cellulose, which stimulates intestinal peristalsis and accelerates bowel movements, making them effective in reducing constipation.
Kidney Beans
Named for their resemblance to human kidneys, kidney beans are staples in North India and New Orleans. Like other beans, they are high in fiber, protein, and iron.
Black Beans
Each cup of black beans contains fifteen grams of fiber and about fifteen grams of protein. Their rich black color indicates a high content of flavonoids and antioxidants. When adding beans and other high-fiber foods to your diet, remember to drink plenty of water.
Brown Rice
Though white rice may taste better, brown rice is more nutritious. Each cup of brown rice contains three-and-a-half grams of fiber. Eating white rice five or more times a week increases the risk of diabetes, while adding two servings of brown rice reduces this risk.
Whole-Wheat Bread
White bread is made from refined flour, which lacks the husk and bran of the grain. Whole-wheat bread retains these fiber-rich ingredients, making it a great way to increase daily fiber intake.
Oats
Oats contain beta-glucan, a special type of fiber that lowers cholesterol and boosts the immune system. They are a mix of soluble fiber (which lowers cholesterol) and insoluble fiber (which aids digestion).
Pomelo (Grapefruit)
According to traditional herbal medicine, pomelo pulp is cool in nature, sweet and sour in taste, and helps clear the lungs, moisten the intestines, relieve cough, reduce phlegm, aid digestion, and alleviate alcohol effects. The peel, pits, and leaves of pomelo also have various health benefits, including anti-inflammatory and diuretic effects. The pulp is rich in water, low in energy, has a low glycemic index, and is high in vitamin C, making it ideal for autumn and winter.
Cooking with pomelo peel can add a unique flavor to dishes and help reduce fat content. Examples include steamed pork with pomelo flavor, pork with pomelo peel, stewed pork belly with pomelo flavor, and steamed spareribs with pomelo peel.
03 Recommended cold plates for autumn
01 Vegetable Salad
Salads are perfect for autumn as they can be made with a variety of vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, and celery. You can customize them with different seasonings to suit your taste, such as soy sauce, vinegar, or sesame paste.
02 Liangpi
Liangpi is a traditional Chinese snack made from flour, similar to a spring roll wrapper. It can be enjoyed with various vegetables and meats like cucumber, bean sprouts, and lean meat. Season it with chili oil, soy sauce, or your preferred condiments.
03 Kelp
Shredded kelp is a popular Asian cold dish, often paired with vegetables and meats like cucumbers, carrots, and lean meat. Season it with vinegar, sesame paste, or other dressings to enhance its flavor.
04 Recommended Soups for Autumn
In the dry autumn season, enjoy soups that moisturize your skin and give your face a radiant glow.
Huangjing Soup for Skin Health
Ingredients:
- 20g Huangjing (Polygonatum)
- 20g Shudihuang (Rehmannia glutinosa)
- 250g pork bones
Preparation:
Wash and chop the pork bones into smaller pieces, blanch them, and set aside.
Wash the Polygonatum and Rehmannia glutinosa, then soak them in water for about 20 minutes.
Add the pork bones and other ingredients with water to a pot, boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for an hour. Season with a pinch of salt.
This sweet-tasting soup helps improve dry and wrinkled skin.
American Ginseng Soup for Skin Health
Ingredients:
- 500g black chicken
- 3g American ginseng
- 15g goji berries
- 10g maidong (Ophiopogon japonicus)
- 5 red dates
- 2 slices of ginger
Preparation:
Wash the black chicken. Blanch it with boiling water. Cut into pieces.
Place the chicken in a casserole, add American ginseng, ginger slices, red dates, goji berries, and Ophiopogon japonicus. Pour in water, boil for 1.5 hours, and season to taste.
This soup nourishes qi and blood, yin, and clears heat, making it ideal for dry skin in autumn. It also helps with symptoms like restlessness, insomnia, thirst, and dry throat.
(to be continued)
Looking ahead
For more information about living with seasonal changes and other dietary techniques, and how they help in rejuvenating our health, stay tuned for the next episode.
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