[Health Preservation in the 24 Solar Terms] Health Preservation Soup in Cough Season and Heavy Snow Season

Time flies, and it is the Big Snow in the 24 solar terms. The "Collection of Explanations of the 72 Solar Terms in the Lunar Calendar" describes the Big Snow solar term as follows: "Big means abundant, and the snow is abundant at this time." Usually at this time, the area where it snows in my country becomes larger, and the amount of snow will gradually increase. Recently, the lowest temperature in Beijing has dropped to 0℃ or below, and I believe that the temperature in other areas has also dropped a lot compared to before.

Since the temperature starts to drop, people should pay attention to keeping warm before and after the Big Snow solar term. If the maintenance is not proper, various diseases are prone to occur. Coughing and sore throat, which are the most common symptoms during this period, are not only caused by epidemics, but also related to improper maintenance.

Cough is one of the main symptoms of common lung diseases, but it is not only lung problems that can cause cough. External pathogens such as wind, cold, and heat, as well as lesions in the liver, kidneys, and other internal organs can also cause cough. In addition to actively treating the clearly diagnosed diseases, you can also use some tea recipes, porridge, and soups to relieve the symptoms of coughs caused by these different reasons.

Use ginger, sugar and perilla soup to treat cold and cough

Coughs caused by wind and cold are usually heavy and short of breath, often accompanied by itchy throat, stuffy nose, runny nose and other symptoms. The sputum coughed up is mostly thin white sputum. At this time, boil a pot of ginger, sugar and perilla soup, which can warm the body and dispel the cold and relieve cough.

Ginger, Sugar and Basil Soup

Ingredients: ginger, perilla, brown sugar

Preparation method: Slice the ginger, wash the perilla and put them into a casserole, add appropriate amount of water, boil and add brown sugar.

Ginger dispels cold and resolves phlegm, perilla dispels cold and relieves the symptoms, and brown sugar warms the interior and regulates the middle. The combination of the three medicines can achieve the effect of dispelling cold and relieving cough. At the same time, this soup is also very popular with children because of the addition of brown sugar for flavoring. Therefore, if the cough is caused by catching a cold, as long as it meets the symptoms of wind-cold, you can try it. In addition, if you are a diabetic or a person who controls sugar, you can remove the brown sugar to reduce part of the effect of warming the spleen and stomach, but the effect of dispelling cold and relieving cough will not be affected too much.

For phlegm-heat cough, use Sangju Lipi Decoction

If you cough frequently, have obvious throat pain, and have difficulty coughing up phlegm, or the phlegm you cough up is yellow or white and sticky, you should consider the possibility of wind-heat cough. Of course, some people may feel the cold evil at first, but after a period of time, the cold evil enters the body and turns into heat, and this symptom will also appear. In addition to symptomatic medication, pay proper attention to pear juice, which can also play an auxiliary role in treatment.

But the pear juice here can be modified in some ways.

Mulberry, Chrysanthemum and Pear Peel Soup

Ingredients: mulberry leaves, chrysanthemum, pear peel, almonds, licorice

Preparation method: Put these 5 ingredients into a casserole, add appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil and let it sit until warm, then you can drink it.

Mulberry leaves and chrysanthemums clear away heat and relieve symptoms, almonds and licorice clear away heat, promote lung function and relieve cough, and pear peel clears heat and promotes fluid production. If the sore throat is more severe and accompanied by constipation, you can also add a little burdock to clear heat and relieve sore throat, moisten the intestines and relieve constipation.

Adenophora and Radix Ophiopogonis Decoction for Lung Yin Deficiency

In addition to the above two types of coughs, there is another type of cough that has been bothering everyone recently. That is, even though all symptoms have improved, the cough still persists. The most common manifestation of this cough is a dry cough, which often occurs at night, with little or no sputum, or blood in the sputum. This situation is mostly caused by lung yin deficiency, and it is necessary to nourish yin and moisten the lungs.

Adenophora and Radix Ophiopogonis Soup

Ingredients: Adenophora, Ophiopogon japonicus, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Apricot kernel, Floating wheat

Preparation method: Soak the above medicinal materials in a casserole for more than half an hour, then add appropriate amount of water, boil it and pour out the liquid medicine, then add appropriate amount of water, boil it and pour out the liquid medicine, combine them and drink them as tea.

Adenophora Root and Ophiopogon japonicus nourish the lung yin, Fritillaria cirrhosa and apricot kernel moisten the lungs, resolve phlegm and relieve cough, and Triticum tiliaceus astringes sweat and nourishes yin. They have a good auxiliary effect on elderly people with weak cough or long-term cough after a long illness.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that coughing is just a symptom. There are many reasons for coughing. In addition to self-care, you must go to a specialist hospital for treatment and treat the disease symptomatically after identifying the cause. It is also best to consult a Chinese medicine practitioner for the medicinal diet therapy recipes mentioned in the article and make reasonable choices based on your own constitution and cause of the disease.

Author: Wei Guo, attending physician of the Nutrition Department of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Oriental Hospital

Scientific Advisor: Yan Yan, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Oriental Hospital