Chapter 6 Winter Functions on Storage by Having A Warm and Tonic Diet and Keeping Early Hours

6.1 A bowl of perilla ginger date decoction warms the stomach

I don’t know whether you students often think about some interesting phenomena about mother-nature or human bodies.

For example, the temperature is low in winter. When we are shivering with chills, drinking a bowl of hot noodle soup made by mother will make us feel warm all over. Our hands will not be cold, and our bodies will not tremble. It seems that the cold air inside our body is driven away at once.

Why? It has something to do with the stomach.

The stomach lies in the middle of the human body, like a “central kitchen”, providing nutrients for the surrounding viscera. These nutrients can be changed into yang Qi to warm the body. However, the stomach has a physiological feature, i.e. it doesn’t like cold. According to TCM, the stomach prefers warmth to the cold and refuses to work when it is cold.

In winter, the temperature drops sharply. Because the stomach is near the

Anecdotes about food-therapy abdominal wall and it is not covered by muscle, fat and other substances from the outside, it is quite easy to get “cold”. In this case, the stomach works in a passive way, and the yang Qi is weakened due to the lack of nutritional supply. No wonder this indirectly results in cold hands and feet and the lack of vitality. So, it is of great importance to keep the body alive in winter by dispelling cold and warming the stomach. To achieve this, the first thing people need to do is to wear more clothes. Now because many of you students feel that wearing thick clothes in winter will cover up your slim figure, you just wear thinner clothes in the cold winter, thus resulting in thecold evil entering the body.

Secondly, warm and hot food can also help to drive away the cold in the stomach and stimulate yang Qi. Here is a “perilla raw ginger date decoction” for you.

The specific instructions are as follows: 10 grams of fresh perilla leaves, 3 pieces of raw ginger and 15 grams of jujubes.

1. Wash jujubes and remove the cores, then cut the raw ginger into slices;

2. Shred the fresh perilla leaves, then place all the above ingredients into a casserole with warm water and cook;

3. After the water boils, turn to mild fire and simmer for 30 minutes;

4. Take out perilla leaves and ginger slices, continue to cook for another 15 minutes, and then drink while it is warm.

Perilla is a kind of wild vegetable and medicinal herb as well. It can release the exterior and dissipate cold, move Qi and harmonize stomach. Among common folks, especially in Japanese and Korean food culture, perilla is often used as a side dish for raw fish fillets and crabs because their meats are cold and easy to cause stomach cold. Thanks to perilla’s function of dissipating cold, people can enjoy delicious food.

Raw ginger, pungent and warm, is often used with perilla because it can help to induce sweating and dissipating cold. When getting a cold in cold wind, you can drink a bowl of hot ginger soup and this really works well. TCM holds that ginger is the product of yang. So, since ancient times, there has been such a saying: “Men cannot keep good health without ginger for a hundred days.” Its unique gingerol can stimulate gastrointestinal mucosa, enlarge blood vessels to enhance blood circulation and digestive ability. After taking raw ginger, people will feel hot because raw ginger helps to expand the skin pores, thus the body can sweep away the bacteria and cold.

Jujube, being able to nourish yin and replenish yang and blood, is commonly used in the treatment of such diseases like spleen and stomach weakness, lack of appetite and loose stool, Qi and blood deficiency. Moreover, jujube is rich in nutrition with a good health-care effect, which is well proved in a proverb: “Three jujubes a day keep the aging away”.

Perilla, raw ginger and jujube, three kinds of herbs for warming yang and dissipating cold, make up the “Three swordsmen”. A bowl of hot decoction can warm the stomach, dissipate cold, help digestion and move Qi. Some students are apt to feel uncomfortable in their stomach once winter comes around. If having a weak or even cold constitution, you may not have enough yang Qi and easily get sick in stomach in winter, thus it is difficult for you to survive a long winter. Then at this time, a bowl of perilla ginger jujube decoction can help you a lot to warm the stomach and keep it in this situation for a period of time.

6.2 Eating sea cucumber in winter like this can experience a miraculous effect

In the period of Warring States, after the first emperor of Qin unified China with a stable power in hand, he had only one dream, i.e. immortality. In order to live perpetually , he summoned more than 100 Taoist fairies together to study the elixir of longevity. However, decades passed, they got nothing. In his late years , when reading through ancient books, he suddenly found such a legend that “there are many immortals living on the Fairy Island in the East China Sea. These immortals often get together and

Anecdotes about food-therapy go fishing for a special elixir on the sea by riding clouds and waves. If gods eat this special pill, they can increase their Dao karma and help them to cultivate their skills. If common folks eat it, they will feel as if they had a hundred gods to protect their body. they can stay young and turn to be immortal.” The legend is not believable, but this “magic elixir” does exist, which is what we call as the sea-cucumber today.

Sea-cucumber is seen as one of the treasures in the world together with ginseng, cubilose and shark fin. It is not only a precious food but also a valuable medicine. As recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica , the sea-cucumber is “sweet and salty in flavor, tonifying kidney meridian, replenishing vital essence, eliminating phlegm and saliva, relieving urine, strengthening yang and curing impotence, killing sores and parasites”. “It’s warm and tonifying, equal to ginseng in functions, so it is called seacucumber.”

Modern research has proved that sea-cucumber is rich in 18 kinds of amino acids, like glutamic acid, glycine, arginine et al, among which eight of them cannot be synthesized by the human body. Moreover, it contains nine kinds of high active substances, like stichopus japonicus acid mucopolysaccharide, stichopus japonicus collagen and stichopus japonicus saponin. Hence, sea cucumber enjoys the reputation of “A nutritious treasure bank”.

Sea-cucumber is tender, smooth and moist. It has been a good tonic for rich and noble families for one thousand years. Nowadays, sea-cucumber is seen in ordinary people’s homes. But do you know how to eat it?

Sea-cucumber is warm in property and good for tonification in winter. Because winter corresponds to storage which means hiding the primordial Qi inside the human body. For example, animals, when it comes to winter, begin to store the energy and fat to survive, so do human beings. In terms of eating methods, after the Winter Solstice (also known as Nine nine-winter-day in Chinese twenty-four solar terms), it is good to take a sea-cucumber for all of us during this period. There are many ways to cook the sea- cucumber and here is a diet formula for you. If you can follow it, it can have a “magical” effect.

Specific instruction: 25 grams of sea cucumber, 25 grams of Chinese wolfberry fruits, 150 grams of pigeon eggs and a proper amount of salt, shallot, raw ginger and cooking wine. 1. Cut the sea-cucumber into strips and shred scallion and ginger. 2. Stir-fry the shallot and ginger, then add appropriate amount of water and put the seacucumber into the pot, after water boils, drop the seasoning and pigeon eggs, cook over strong fire for 20 minutes, then put in the wolfberry fruits, finally turn to mild fire and stew for another 10 minutes. Then it is time for you to enjoy.

Chinese wolfberry fruits can nourish liver and kidneys , and moisten lungs. Pigeon eggs contain lots of nutrients, like high-quality proteins, less fat, less sugar, phospholipids, iron, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B1 and vitamin D. It is easy to digest and absorb them. At the banquet, it is a high-grade nutrition product and a fashionable dish as well. According to traditional Chinese medicine, pigeon eggs are sweet and salty in flavor with a neutral property. It also has the effects of tonifying liver and kidneys, replenishing vital essence and Qi, and beautifying the skin.

The nourishing effect of the sea-cucumber with Chinese wolfberry fruits and pigeon eggs is like a tiger with added wings.

You students can often drink this soup in winter. On the one hand, it can enhance your immunity and prevent diseases, on the other hand, it can also help you to save energy to be taller and healthier for the coming spring!

6.3 Students with cold hands and feet should eat more mutton in winter

Some of students in winter would feel cold in their hands and feet. Sometimes, when touching their cold hands or feet, you would look with a shock. Such symptoms

Anecdotes about food-therapy have something to do with spleen yang deficiency or spleen-kidney yang deficiency. Tell you a secret: You should eat some more mutton in winter, so that the symptoms of cold hands and feet can be greatly relieved.

Mutton was called “Chu meat” and “Jie meat” in ancient times. Both Chu and Jie stood for the Hun tribe in northern China at first, showing that mutton was initially popular in the cold north. Because sheep is born to resist the cold hardy by nature, local people eat mutton to resist the cold climate, which is represented by the Mongolian nationality. In the recipes of the court of the Yuan Dynasty, dishes containing mutton accounted for 80%.

In frozen winter, yang Qi is hidden in the human body, so it is easy for us to feel cold in hands and feet or even have a poor circulation of Qi and blood. Mutton is sweet but not greasy, warm but not dry. It has the effects of tonifying kidneys and yang, dispelling cold with warmth, warming Qi and blood, appetizing and strengthening spleen. Eating mutton in winter can not only resist the wind and cold, but also nourish the body. So, it is really a good thing to kill two birds with one stone. Therefore, there has been a saying that “eating mutton in winter is better than ginseng” since ancient times.

Winter is the best season to eat mutton and there are many ways to eat it, such as steaming, boiling, frying, etc. Here are some recommendations for mutton formula from the point of dietectic therapies.

Chinese angelica raw ginger mutton decoction: 500 grams of mutton, 250 grams of ginger, 150 grams of angelica, 2 grams of pepper and 3 grams of salt. 1. Clean and slice angelica and raw ginger with clear water and slice; 2. Remove bones, and sinew and membrane of mutton, put the mutton into the boiling water to remove blood, take out to cool and cut into thin strips; 3. Place a proper amount of water into the casserole and put in the sliced mutton, angelica and ginger, boil it over strong fire, discard the foam, and stew it over mild fire until the mutton is fully cooked; 4. Add pepper powder and salt, then you can enjoy it. This formula came from the book named Synopsis of Golden Chamber. It records that mutton can warm the middle and tonify deficiency; angelica can tonify blood and relieve pain; raw ginger can warm and invigorate stomach; pepper powder can dissipate cold and invigorate stomach and enhance appetite. So, eating meat and drinking soup can improve the human ability to drive away the cold.

Middle-tonifying mutton porridge : 250 grams of mutton and 180 grams of rice. Wash the mutton and chop it into small pieces, boil it with some water until it turns to be porridge. Finally put in some salt, raw ginger and pricklyash peel as seasoning, then it is done. The porridge can be eaten 2-3 times respectively.

This formula is derived from Principles of Correct Diet , which mainly relies on mutton functions on warming middle and tonifying spleen. Warming middle means “warming the stomach”. The rise of stomach Qi can stimulate yang Qi. So, this formula can be used for diseases like cold limbs and trembling body.

Mutton and mooli decoction: 750 grams of mutton sirloin, 1 mooli, proper amount of coriander, onion, raw ginger, salt, chicken essence, cooking wine and pepper powder.

1. Wash the mutton sirloin and shred it into thick pieces, then wash the radish and cut it into shreds as well; 2. Turn on fire and pour some oil into the wok, next put into the ginger slices to stir-fly until its fragrance is smelled, then add some boiling water and drop in salt, chicken essence, cooking wine and pepper powder for seasoning; 3. After the water boils again, place the mutton sirloin until it is completely cooked, then put in the white radish and cook over mild fire until the radish is fully cooked; 4. Put in the shredded shallot and coriander leaves, then the mutton radish decoction is done.

Mutton has the effects of warming stomach and dissipating cold, and tonifying deficiency and replenishing kidneys . Turnip serves to clear inner-heat and produce fluid, extend middle and release Qi.

This decoction is fresh in liquid and delicious in meat, tonic but not dry, being quite suitable for regular intake.

Anecdotes about food-therapy

Desertliving cistanche mutton decoction: 15 grams of desertliving cistanche, 100 grams of mutton, 100 grams of rice and a little salt. 1. Wash desertliving cistanche and mutton and shred them into thin pieces respectively; 2. Decoct desertliving cistanche in a casserole, then leave the liquid after removing dregs; 3. Add the mutton and rice to boil. After boiling, put in some seasonings like salt, ginger and shallot to make porridge and eat it as staple food.

In addition to mutton, desertliving cistanche in this formula is also a valuable tonic. It has the effects of tonifying kidney yang , replenishing vital essence and blood and moistening intestines. It gets its name as “desert ginseng” because it grows in the desert. This formula has the effects of warming and tonifying kidney yang.

In history, mutton has been playing a key role in traditional Chinese dietetic structure. The ancient book records that “when offering sacrifice to ancestors, emperors were fed with beef, mutton and pork, dukes were fed with beef, high-ranking officials with mutton, common officials with pork, soldiers with grilled fish and common folks with vegetables.”.

So, in ancient times only noble people could eat mutton because ancients thought it could not only help them to fight against wind and cold, but also replenish their body. For them, it was a very noble food. However, today, mutton is no longer a scarce food ingredient any more, but has become a tonic as the most cost-effective food in winter.

6.4 Tell your mum about this good-to-all congee for your family in winter

According to TCM, winter pairs with kidneys. In winter, sudden drops of temperature would prohibit and hurt kidney yang which has the functions of warming, stimulating, exciting, steaming, storing and restricting yin and cold. TCM points out :

“If healthy-Qi is sufficient inside the body, the evil cannot invade.” In winter, cold and pathogenic factors are stronger, if yang Qi inside the body is “insufficient”, it will be unable to fight against cold pathogens, thus leading to the occurrence of some wind cold symptoms like headache, runny nose and cough.

Among common folks, there is a popular ballad about “ immortal porridge ”: A pot of glutinous rice, with 7 pieces of ginger and shallot white. Decocting them into porridge with half cup of vinegar keep you away from cold.

Since it is known as immortal porridge, it surely has some magical curative effects. Just as what is said in the ballad, this porridge can cure many symptoms caused by wind cold. So, if eating the porridge within the first three days of illness, you can enjoy miraculous effects.

The specific method: Choose 7 pieces of shallot white, about 50 grams, 7 pieces of raw ginger, about 15 grams, 50 mg of vinegar and 50 grams of rice. 1. Wash the rice first and drop into the pot with raw ginger slices, add water and cook until it is boiling; 2.Put in the shallot white and simmer over mild fire; 3. When the porridge is ready to be done, add 50 mg of vinegar, stir evenly, and boil for another one or two minutes, then it is done. Eat the porridge when it is hot, then lie on bed covered with a quilt until slightly sweat. In general, after eating it 3 ~ 5 times, you will recover.

TCM believes that ginger is acrid and warm in property, and enters the meridians of lungs , stomach and spleen. It has the functions of releasing the exterior and dissipating cold, warming lungs and relieving cough. There has been a saying among common folks: “Three slices of raw ginger and one piece of shallot keep common cold away.” After having been caught or wading in rain, drinking a bowl of hot ginger decoction can not only replenish the water lost in the body, but also has the effect of cooling, bringing down fever and eliminating bacteria, and can help to induce sweating and peeing, which is beneficial for toxin excretion in the body.

Shallot white can help to sweat and release the exterior and promote yang Qi.

Zhang Yuansu, a famous doctor in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, once said: “The shallot

Anecdotes about food-therapy stems and white center on dispersing, dredging yang Qi between the upper part and the lower part of the body inside, so The Book of the Alive said, to treat severe cold headache, the decoction of shallot white with roots works well.”

Rice vinegar, as a kind of vinegar with high nutritional value, is rich in basic amino acids, sugars, organic acids, vitamins B1, B2 and C, minerals and other nutrients. As recorded in Recipes of Suixi-Ju recorded: “It is warm and can “stimulate appetite, nourish liver, strengthen sinew, warm bones, sober up and help digestion.”

Rice has the effects of nourishing yin and tonifying kidneys, invigorating spleen and warming liver, brightening eyes and activating blood. It is a good tonic whether cooked as porridge or soup and can prolong life if eaten frequently.

Lu You, with 86-years of longevity in the field of ancient Chinese poetry , benefited a lot from rice porridge. He realized that to preserve health by eating porridge was simplest and the most effective way to prolong his life. Therefore, he wrote a poem named “eating porridge” to sing highly of it vigorously: “Everyone in the world has been studying longevity for a long time, but they fail to realize that the easy way to live long just lies under their nose; I learnt a simple way from Mr Zhang Lei, named Wanqiu, to live a long life by eating porridge.” I think the ancients also wished a long life like Lu You by naming it “immortal porridge”. It is like the helpers invited by the body in winter who work together to drive cold evil out of the country and dare not attack anymore.

However, you should watch carefully that “ immortal porridge ” is specially used for treating wind-cold cold, but has little effect on the wind-heat cold like sore-throat and runny nose. Besides, you had better wear some more clothes in daily life to prevent cold. When it’s cold, one more piece of clothes is better than any medicine.

6.5 A bowl of ten major tonic decoction is good enough for nourishment in winter

Aspointed out by Chinese medicine: “All creatures grow in spring, prosper in summer, ripe in autumn, and store in winter, so should people.” The sub-text of winter nourishment is that winter is the best time to maintain and store middle in four seasons of the year. In our traditional diet customs, there is a word with special meaning called “winter tonifying”. Han people begin to cultivate their winter nourishment from the Winter Solstice. In general, common folks would kill chickens and ducks or buy mutton, while those rich people often stew those meats with angelica, ginseng and other materia medica to reinforce the nourishing and tonifying effect.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Winter Solstice saw the advent of severe cold days, the turning-point of the year when yin Qi is extremely abundant and yang Qi begins to grow. That’s why there has been such a saying: “The winter solstice is full of yang Qi” in the theory of TCM. When the solar term runs to this day, extreme yin appears and yang is generated, that means, yang Qi in human body gradually develops and it is the easiest time to absorb external nutrition for the body.

TCM points out that the natural environment in winter is featured by predomination of yin and decline of yang. If people want to get used to such a climate, it is necessary to supplement yang Qi to fight against external cold evil. What’s more, it has been well proved that, in winter, people have better appetite, and their spleen and stomach work well. If they are tonified by eating, they can absorb tonics much better than they do in other seasons and help food play a better role in tonification. That is really a good business with less input but huge output.

When it comes to the ways of tonification, there are so many different eating styles thanks to Chinese dietetic culture. People of the Han nationality have different habits

Anecdotes about food-therapy of eating, like tangyuan, tofu, dumplings and mutton soup et al. Here is a “good-to-all” recommendation of a tonic: Decoction of ten major tonics

10 grams of Tangshen; 10 grams of roasted milkvetch root; 10 grams of white atractylodes rhizome; 10 grams of wined debark peony root; 10 grams of poria; 3 grams of cinnamon; 15 grams of Chinese angelica; 15 grams of prepared rehmannia roots; 6 grams of Sichuan lovage rhizome; 6 grams of stir-fried liquorice roots; 500 grams of mutton spinal bones; 30 grams of raw ginger and a proper amount of shallot, yellow rice wine, pricklyash peel and salt.

1. First, put the materia medica into the gauze, fasten its edge with a string and wash it in water for use. 2. Then clean the spine. Pour clean water into an earthenware pot. After the water boils , put the spine into the water to remove the dirt and set aside.

3. Then, add some more clean water into the pot and boil with the adding of the spine, green onion, ginger, pricklyash and Chinese medicine package, a teaspoon of yellow rice wine and a little salt in turn. 4. Finally, cover the pot and simmer for 2 hours. 5. Season it with a little salt and it is done.

It should be noted that this dish must be made by stewing especially in casserole. The main ingredients should be fresh but no frozen, and should be wiped and cleaned. When cooking this dish, you can make more and divide it into several portions with a purple pottery boiler, which can be steamed at any time. When drinking this soup, you feel no bitter but sweet, which definitely means that the nice taste lingers inside your mouth cavity.

This formula came from Formulary of the Bureau of Taiping People’s Welfare Pharmacy formula , also known as “Ten major tonic decoction ”. The emperors of the Song Dynasty attached great importance to health, and ordered medical officials of the royal medical bureau to compile a book named “ Formulary of the Bureau of Taiping People’s Welfare Pharmacy formula”. Nowadays, many formulas in this book are still in use and Ten Major Tonic Decoctions is one of the most popular. Besides, we can often see it in some Korean operas as a tonic soup thanks to its popularity.

In the formula, Tangshen and milkvetch roots can tonify middle and replenish Qi, invigorate spleen and replenish lungs; atractylodes and poria can invigorate spleen and replenish Qi, dry dampness and drain water; wined debark peony roots can nourish blood and emolliate liver, relieve middle and stop ache, astring yin and sweat; cinnamon can nourish the original yang and warm the spleen and stomach; angelica has the functions of nourishing and harmonizing blood, regulating menstruation and relieving pain, moistening dryness and smoothing the intestine; prepared rehmannia roots can tonify blood and nourish yin, fill the vital essence and replenish the marrow; Sichuan lovage rhizome can promote Qi to dispel depression, activate and tonify blood; stir-fried liquorice roots can replenish Qi and nourish yin, dredge yang and restore pulse. Such herbs, warm but not dispersive, hot but not dry, would not lead to the body-heat and fever even if taken frequently. They are common medicines which can be bought at a low price in a Chinese drug-store.

Suitable tonic in winter doesn’t mean to tonify human body randomly. If eating too much, you will spoil your health. If you don’t know exactly, ten major tonic decoction is a good choice.

6.6 Deal with winter-cold easily!

Everyone would be likely to have a cold. Dear fellow students, when you or your family members have a cold, have you ever felt helpless? If so, here is a simple way!

TCM generally divides colds into two categories: cold of wind-cold and cold of windheat. Many of you might think that cold in winter is cold of wind-cold, and cold in summer is cold of wind-heat, but that is wrong.

The properties of wind-cold and wind-heat are not decided by the season, but by symptoms. In general, in winter, the temperature is low and it is easy to be attacked

Anecdotes about food-therapy by cold pathogens. The features of wind-cold are apparent at the beginning, but the wind-cold might turn into the wind heat, and vice versa. If you cannot tell the types in advance and use the wrong dietetic therapy, what you will get might just be a little “winter fat”, but not the right medical treatment.

The clinical symptoms of cold are mainly nasal obstruction, running nose, sneezing, headache, aversion to cold, fever, soreness and pain of the body. Then how to tell the syndrome types of cold from these seemingly identical symptoms? To be simple, it is called “Five kinds of differentiation”.

Differentiation of breath: Patients who feel hot or dry in breath are hot, and those who don’t feel hot or dry in their mouth are cold.

Differentiation of nasal Qi: Patients who can feel dry in the nose and exhale hot wind are wind-heat, while patients who can feel no dryness but cool in the nose are wind-cold.

Differentiation of nasal discharge: Patients who have thick discharge of the running nose and feel hot are wind-heat, while those who have clear and thin discharge of the running nose are wind-cold.

Differentiation of face color: Patients who have the aversion to cold, white pale complexion and reddish lips are wind-heat, while those who have pale complexion, null lips or cold aversion are wind-cold.

Differentiation of urine: Patients who feel mild heat in urine are wind-heat, while those with no heat but thin and long urine are wind-cold.

In the art of war, it is said that “Know yourself, know the enemy; a hundred battles, a hundred victories.”, so do the TCM. Here let’s see what kinds of dietectic therapy work well at different stages of the cold.

At the beginning of cold

When cold starts, it is not obvious between wind-cold and wind-heat. The disease

Anecdotes about food-therapy evil has just broken the first defender but has not gone deep into the body. At this time, the disease is relatively mild, if you just reinforce a little your middle, you can defeat the enemy. Here is a recommended decoction: Using shallot white and light fermented soya beans as medicine.

15 grams of shallot white, 10 grams of light fermented soya beans, and 250 grams of tofu. Cut the tofu into pieces and boil it with two small bowls of water, then put the fermented soya beans and continue to boil till to the amount of just one bowl. Next, place the sectioned shallot white into the boiling water for a few seconds and finally add some seasoning.

In the formula, shallot white can help to induce sweating to releasing the exterior, relieve the skin surface and move yang Qi and it is mainly used for exogenous wind cold. The Essentials of Materia Medica records that shallot is acrid and can release the exterior and dissipate cold, release muscles and travel through upper and lower yang Qi, so it works well for the external depression with different syndromes.” Light fermented soya bean is a fermented product of mature seeds of legume plant soybean. Bitter in flavor and cold in property, it can release the exterior, eliminate agiatation , ventilate depression and remove toxin. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that light fermented soya bean can induce sweating, invigorate stomach and help digestion. This decoction is light with the tofu inside being soft, tender, delicate and nutritious. When in the first stage of a cold, you can take it.

Cold of a wind-cold

The key to treat the cold of a wind-cold is to induce sweating, which TCM calls to release the exterior with pungent-warm and ventilate lungs and dissipate cold. For example, the goals of some common methods among common folks, like being covered with thick quilt, drinking ginger water with brown sugar or ginger porridge, having a foot bath and so on, serve to expel the cool from the body by inducing sweating. So,

Anecdotes about food-therapy we had better follow this rule when using the dietectic therapy. Here is a Ginger perilla leaf decoction with brown sugar for you.

5 grams of perilla leaves, 3 grams of raw ginger, 2 pieces of shallot white and 10 grams of brown sugar. First, wash the raw ginger, perilla leaf, and shallot white, then decoct it in the pot until boiling. Next, put in the brown sugar and stir it, then it is ok for drinking. Perilla leaves can disperse the exterior cold and ventilate the lung Qi. The Interpretation of Materia Medica describes perilla leaf as the medica with yang. It serves to disperse cold with pungent-warm, dredge the thin Qi and disperse the thin flavor. It is mainly used for releasing muscles and inducing sweating, and treating colds. Besides, shallot white serves to induce sweating to release the exterior, and transmit yang Qi.

Raw ginger is also pungent and warm. Its pungent taste can help to open the sweat pores and drive away the cold evil.

The cold of a wind-heat cold

In the later stage of a cold, with the development of pathogenic factors, the cold of a wind-cold can turn into one of wind-heat. Such a cold should be treated with some pungent and cool medica to disperse wind-heat and eliminate inflammation and swelling. Here is a dietectic therapy for you: egg and shredded meat soup with mint. The specific instrument: 100 grams of peppermint leaves, 2 eggs, 50 grams of shredded meat, and an appropriate amount of salt. First, soak the peppermint leaves in water for 10-15 minutes, then add some water in the pot and decoct it until it boils. Next, add the shredded meat in the pot for 5~10 minutes, add the peppermint leaves and whipped eggs, add some seasoning finally.

The only main herb in this formula is the peppermint. Peppermint is pungent and cool. It has the effects of dispersing wind-heat, clearing the head and promoting eyesight, and draining throat and promoting eruption. When cooked with warm tonic eggs and shredded meat, it is very suitable for treating a cold with wind-heat in winter. In severe cold in winter, people turn to be much more lazy. Although TCM advocates “winter storage”, it does not mean no sports. Exercise can help to strengthen the viscera and bones, improve human immunity, and actually a way to tonify yang Qi. However, strenuous exercise in winter is not recommended and the amount and time of exercise should be step by step. When feeling a bit hot and slightly sweating, you had better stop.

6.7 Getting rid of frostbite is not a dream

In winter, some students might feel reddish, swollen and itchy on the back of their hands, which is quite miserable. Sometimes, we doctors see some children with serious frozen flesh or even the faintly-seen bones on the back of the hand in the outpatient department. A doctor, one of the compilers of this set of books, suffered from the frostbites in his childhood. He recalled that when he was a child, his family was relatively poor. In winter, when it snowed, as a playful boy, he enjoyed playing with snow. When it didn’t snow, he liked playing with iron rings or glass balls on the icy ground. That’s why he got frozen and swollen hands or feet in winter, which made him suffer very much. When it was cold, he felt sores at the opening of the frostbite, but when it was a bit warm in the room, he felt itchy on hands and feet, which later made him have special interest in the study of frostbites.

Frostbite, in fact, is caused by poor resistance of some students to the cold in skin. What’s more, the invasion of cold might make the contraction of the peripheral skin vascular contract or spasm happen, thus leading to the disorder of local blood circulation , oxygen and nutrition deficiency and tissue damage.

According to TCM, if it is cold in winter and people have weak Qi and blood, their yang Qi will be damaged by long-time invasion of cold evil, thus leading to failure of

Anecdotes about food-therapy smooth movement of Qi and blood. If Qi and blood are blocked in one place, and people are attacked by the cold evil, they will suffer from local numbness, itching, swelling, or even blister ulceration in the skin, thus causing the occcurrence of a frostbite.

Whether seen from the perspective of Western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine, a key reason for frostbite is the “cold evil”. So, the most important way to prevent frostbite is to prevent cold and improve the body’s yang. Sufficient yang Qi, like the sun in the sky, can melt ice and improve blood circulation throughout the body. In this way, people will not suffer from frostbites.

Winter is the best season to warm kidneys, tonify yang and corresponds with kidneys. The kidney yang, as the life-gate-fire, is like a stove to the human body. Only when this fire is burning strongly, can the house be warm. As a good way to help the fire of kidney yang, a dish in dietectic therapy named “Angelica mutton decoction” is a great helper to remove frostbite.

Choose 25 grams of Chinese angelica, 25 grams of milkvetch roots, 25 grams of Tangshen, 500 grams of mutton, and some proper amounts of shallot, raw ginger, salt, cooking wine and monosodium glutamate (MSG). 1.Wash the mutton and cut it into pieces, put into the pot with the shallot, raw ginger, salt and cooing wine; 2. Then, place the angelica, milkvetch roots and Tangshen into a gauze and fasten the edge with a string. Next, put the gauze into the pot with a proper amount of water; 3. Decoct over strong fire until it boils, then turn to mild fire until the meat is totally rotten; 4. Finally add some MSG, eat both the meat and the soup.

Angelica mutton decoction is a TCM diet in the Han nationality. In the decoction, angelica is commonly used as blood tonic, which serves to tonify blood and promote blood circulation. As pointed out by Li Shizhen’s Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty: “Angelica can regulate blood-flow and is a key medicine for women. It also has the meaning of missing husband, so it is named Danggui.” Blood is the nutrient substance of human body which is necessary for the growth of yang Qi, so bloodtonification is equal to yang tonification; Milkvetch root excels in “tonifying” and serves to tonify Qi and strengthen the exterior. Li Dongyuan, a famous doctor in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, once said: “Milkvetch root can replenish triple energizers, protect the defensive Qi and has the same function as that of cassia twig.” Tangshen can tonify middle and replenish Qi, invigorate spleen and replenish lungs . Modern researchhas found that Tangshen can help to stimulate the nervous system and strengthen human immunity. Mutton is warm in property and is the most suitable for eating in winter. So, it is called winter tonic which can be shown in such a proverb among common folks: “Mutton in winter is superior to ginshen.”

After eating this angelica mutton decoction, you will not only feel warm throughout the body, but also unconsciously remove the frostbites when enjoying the delicious meat and soup.

Of course, on weekdays, you have classes at school, so you can only enjoy this angelica mutton decoction when you go home. After class, you can help to promote blood circulation throughout the body and improve peripheral circulation by rubbing your hands to make them hot, and then rubbing your ears, cheeks and nose with hot hands. After having frostbites, do not scratch the purple nodes, because it will be slow for the skin to repair after scratching. You can also decoct some wax gourd peels, eggplant stems or fresh pine needles and use the liquid to wash the affected area. But when it worsens, do go to the hospital.

6.8 Keep your skin moisten and beautiful in winter

In severe winter, many people think that autumn is the “right” season for skin dryness. But in fact, it is not true because winter is also a peak season for skin dryness. Autumn is hot and dry, while winter is cold and dry. Once winter comes, various kinds of cosmetics for girls show up, like rehydration, moisturizing and so on. Even those

Anecdotes about food-therapy boys who rarely care much about their skin have to use some of them.

Skin is the natural coating for the human body. So, as its host, we absolutely do not allow this coating to lose its glossiness. Then is there any good way to solve this problem? Here are some recommended dietectic therapies to moisten the skin.

Crucian carp radish decoction : 1 crucian carp, 400 grams of mooli, 2 pieces of raw ginger and two pieces of shallot. First wash the crucian carp, chop the shallot, wash white radish, peel and cut into pieces for use. Slightly stir-fry the crucian carp and put it in the pot to decoct with the radish and raw ginger, then add the shallot and salt, finally cook again for 2-3 minutes, then it is done.

Crucian carp is widely distributed in the waters all over the country all year round. It is the fattest in the months from February to April and from August to December as one of the important edible fishes in China. Crucian carp decoction not only tastes good and fresh, but also has a strong effect of tonifying the human body. It serves to invigorate spleen and disperse dampness, harmonize middle, appetize and activate blood circulation and dredge collaterals, and warm the middle and descend Qi. Besides, it is rich in protein and helps as a way of beautification. White turnip goes into the lung and stomach meridians. As a good dietectic therapy, it can treat or auxiliariy treat many diseases. It was named as “The most beneficial vegetable” by Compendium of Materia Medica . What’s more, white turnip can also help to whiten the skin. Modern research has discovered that it is rich in vitamins, especially, vitamin A and vitamin C which can prevent skin-aging, prevent the formation of black spots and keep the skin fair and tender.

Vegetable keel decoction: 1 piece of pig keel, 1 corn, 10 mushrooms, 1 carrot, 2 celeries, 8 pieces of raw ginger, and some amounts of salt and shallot. 1. Wash the pig keel, then scald it in hot water and drain; 2. Wash the corn and cut into sections; 3. Soak the mushrooms until soft and clean; 4. Wash the celeries; 5. Wash the carrot, peel and cut into thick pieces; 6. Put the pork keel, carrots, corns, mushrooms, ginger slices into the pot with an appropriate amounts water and boil for 1 hour, then add the celeries and decoct for another 30 minutes. After that, drop the shallot and salt and it is done.

Pig keel is the spine of the pig, featured by lean meat and less fat. The pig keel contains plenty of bone marrow which will be released when cooked soft. TCM believes that “Tonifying the marrow by marrow”. Therefore, this decoction functions on nourishing kidney yin and supplementing the vital essence. Food like corn, mushroom, carrot and celery can help the body to supplement many nutrients, like unsaturated fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, calcium, Vitamins, carotene and so on, with the effects of nourishing and moistening lungs, beautifying skin and eliminating toxin.

Coastal glehnia root lean meat decoction : 20 grams of pig lean meat, 15 grams of coastal glehnia roots, 5 figs, 30 grams of lily bulb and 1 piece of dry tangerine peel. Wash the figs and cut each into halves. Wash the lean meat, cut into thick slices and scald in boiling water. Wash coastal glehnia roots, lily bulbs and dry tangerine peel. Then place all the ingredients into the pot with clean water and boil for 1.5 ~ 2 hours. Then it is done.

Pork, a key non-staple food in daily life, is sweet in flavor and cool in property and contains colloid components which can nourish the skin. Frozen boiled pigskin can make the skin smooth and delicate. Coastal glehnia roots and lily bulb can nourish yin and clear lungs, replenish stomach and produce fluid. Sweet, flat and nontoxic figs functions on strengthening spleen, nourishing and moistening intestines. Dry angerine peel contains many components like hesperidin and volatile oil which can mildly stimulate the gastro-intestinal tract, promote the secretion of digestive juice and eliminate the accumulation of gas in the intestinal tract. A bit of it to the soup can help enhance your appetite. So, this decoction has the effects of nourishing yin and moistening dryness.

In winter, it is often dry and low in temperature. Normally because the metabolism of the skin is not completely fit for the alternation, the secretion of sweat-gland

Anecdotes about food-therapy decreases,leading to dryness . If you don’t pay enough attention to nourishing your skin, you will make your skin dehydrate, which causes temporary wrinkles of the skin. In this case, the best choice to moisten your skin is to enjoy a bowl of hot decoction rich in various kinds of nutrients. For example, the ones mentioned above can help your skin to survive the winter beautifully.