Now that the cold season has started, colds can be expected more often. Traditional Chinese Medicine offers a range of tips and advice that can help you get through the winter healthy. It combines thousands of years of experience with modern knowledge and applies it to Western food, spices and herbs. Here are 7 tips that will help you get through the winter healthier.
1. Pay attention to heating food
Chinese nutritional medicine attributes a certain temperature behavior to all foods, which has an impact on health. In the cold season it is therefore important to provide a warm and nutritious diet and to avoid cold or cooling foods. Because the cold from the outside is already an effort of the body, you should not add extra cold through your food. Hot foods include game dishes, root and cabbage vegetables, legumes, soups and stews, as well as cinnamon, ginger, cloves, rosemary or thyme. Raw fruits and vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers), cold mueslis with yogurt or drinks with sour milk should be avoided.
2. Avoid citrus fruits
Fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin C are also recommended in Chinese medicine to strengthen the immune system. However, citrus fruits should be avoided. Instead, local sources of vitamins such as potatoes, cabbage greens, fennel, blackcurrant or local apple varieties should be used, preferably cooked as a puree. According to Chinese food science, citrus fruits have cool or cold temperature behavior. Fruits and vegetables from the region with vitamin C are more digestible and have a neutral or warm temperature behaviour.
3. Warm your kidneys
In the cold season, Traditional Chinese Medicine recommends storing energy and especially protecting the kidneys. Because according to Chinese medicine, the kidneys are responsible for our constitutional life energy and influence our immune system. That's why it's important to dress warmly and especially to protect your lower back and kidneys. Moreover, enjoying rest is recommended in winter.
4. Strengthen the fire of life, the Yang-Qi
The fire of life wards off cold and wetness that enter the body and thus keeps you healthy. To strengthen the fire of life, the Yang-Qi, it is wise to use certain herbs for the preparation of hearty strengthening meals. These stimulate the metabolism and make the food more digestible. Including:fresh ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, chili and juniper.
5. Moisturize the body from within
Heating air dries out the mucous membranes and makes them susceptible to pathogens. To avoid this, the room air must be humidified by known methods. In addition, it is better to eat foods that provide "internal moisturizing". Pumpkin, fennel, Chinese cabbage, sweet potato, potato, chestnut and pear – according to Chinese nutritional medicine, produce bodily fluids and thus contribute to the moistening of the mucous membranes and thus a healthy barrier against cold viruses.
6. Do you have a cold? Sweaty food helps
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, cold and wind usually enter the body with a cold. This cold must be dispelled again. To achieve this, one must rely on foods and methods that stimulate sweat and open pores. Think of a warm bath or foot bath, vegetable soup or chicken soup and tea made from warming ingredients such as ginger, star anise, fennel, cloves, coriander and cinnamon. Reheating foods such as pumpkin, onions, garlic, and leeks is also recommended.
7. Acupuncture strengthens the immune system
Studies show that acupuncture can strengthen the immune system. Acupuncture is therefore perfectly suited to prevent colds. If you are interested, you should always contact a qualified and experienced therapist.
