Diet tips for regulating mood! How to eat sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty to get a good mood

"Suwen Xuanming Wuqi" states: "The five flavors enter the body: sour enters the liver, bitter enters the heart, sweet enters the spleen, pungent enters the lungs, and salty enters the kidneys." The five flavors enter the five internal organs, and the five flavors play an important role in nourishing and coordinating the five internal organs. The five internal organs have specific affinities for the five flavors, and the two are closely related.

According to the Five Elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the five internal organs govern the five emotions: the heart governs joy, the liver governs anger, the spleen governs thinking, the lungs govern sadness, and the kidneys govern fear. The five flavors affect the five internal organs, which in turn are related to our five emotions.

So, are the five flavors related to the five emotions? Can we regulate our emotions and maintain physical and mental health by understanding the relationship between the five internal organs and the five flavors? The answer is yes.

01Depression, irritability and anger——sour

Sour taste can be astringent. When the liver qi is stagnant, the mood is low, the liver fire is strong, and the person is irritable and easily angered, proper intake of acidic food can astringe the liver qi, calm the liver fire, and calm the mood; it can also nourish the liver, strengthen the liver, and play a certain role in liver repair and liver cell regeneration.

Sour foods: hawthorn, citrus, sour plum, passion fruit, lemon, etc.

Excessive sour food: "Too much sour food will cause liver qi to be excessive, and spleen qi to be exhausted." Excessive intake of sour food will cause liver qi to be excessive, suppress the spleen and stomach, lead to spleen and stomach dysfunction, and cause irritability, anger, chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers and other problems.

02 Upset and irritable - suffering

Bitterness can purge and dry out. If you have a strong heart fire, are upset, or have an irritable mood, you can eat bitter foods appropriately, which is beneficial for purging the heart fire, removing dryness and irritability, and regulating your mood; it also increases the elasticity of the myocardium and blood vessel walls, and has a certain health care effect on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Bitter foods: bitter melon, bitter almonds, lotus seeds, buckwheat tea, coffee, etc.

Eating too much bitter food: "If the taste is too bitter, the spleen will not be moistened, and the stomach qi will be thick." Eating too much bitter food will make the spleen too dry and not moistened, which will cause stagnation of stomach qi and cause insomnia, stomach pain, heartburn and acid reflux.

03 Overthinking and anxiety - Gan

Sweet taste can nourish and relieve. When the spleen is stagnant, overthinking, or anxious, appropriate intake of sweet food can nourish the middle qi, nourish the spleen yin, and relieve emotions; it can also strengthen the spleen and stomach and promote spleen and stomach health.

Sweet foods: red dates, honey, brown sugar, longan, pumpkin, etc.

Excessive consumption of sweet foods: "Taste is too sweet, the heart is full of breath, the complexion is dark, and the kidney qi is unbalanced." Excessive intake of sweet foods will cause the spleen and stomach to be overactive and suppress the kidney qi, increasing the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.

04 Sadness, Depression and Lack of Joy - Xin

Spicy taste can disperse and promote movement. When the lung qi is stagnant, sad, unhappy, or depressed, you can eat spicy food appropriately, which can help disperse the lung qi and vent emotions; it can also play a role in nourishing the lungs.

Spicy foods: ginger, garlic, leek, onion, pepper, etc.

Excessive consumption of spicy food: "Excessive spicy food will cause the tendons and veins to relax, and the spirit to be damaged." Excessive intake of spicy food will cause the tendons and veins to relax, and the spirit to be damaged, and it is easy to have problems such as constipation, qi deficiency, gastroenteritis, fatigue and weakness.

05 Fear, terror, and panic - salty

Salty taste can soften and moisten the body. When the kidney qi is insufficient, fearful, panicky, timid, and timid, you can eat salty food appropriately, which is beneficial to nourishing yin and kidney, stabilizing emotions; it can also regulate the osmotic pressure balance of human cells and blood and water and salt metabolism, which is beneficial to physical health.

Salty foods: salt, kelp, salted fish, salted duck, pickles, etc.

Eating too much salty food: "Too salty food will cause bone damage, muscle shortening, and depression of the heart." Excessive intake of salty food will cause bone damage, muscle shortening, and depression of the heart, and increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

In daily life, we can reasonably consume five-flavor foods according to our own emotional and physical conditions in order to achieve the purpose of nourishing the five internal organs, balancing emotions, and maintaining mental health.

However, if you have serious emotional problems, please go to a professional hospital to seek medical help in time for comprehensive treatments such as medication, psychotherapy, Chinese medicine treatment, and dietary conditioning, so as to more effectively alleviate emotional problems and improve the quality of life.

The department has been carrying out appropriate Chinese medicine nursing techniques such as Chinese medicine application, acupoint plastering, moxibustion, intradermal acupuncture, Chinese medicine hot packs, ear acupoint plastering, cupping, and acupoint injection for a long time.