Health Science: Health Preservation During Solar Terms - Cold Dew

Health Science: Health Preservation During Solar Terms - Cold Dew

Cold Dew is the 17th solar term of the 24 solar terms and the fifth solar term of autumn. Cold Dew is a solar term in late autumn, the beginning of the Xu month in the Ganzhi calendar. Cold Dew is a solar term that reflects the characteristics of climate change. When Cold Dew comes, cold air sometimes moves south, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and autumn dryness is obvious.

Cold Dew is here, three health-preserving key points to remember

1. "Don't expose your body during the White Dew season, and don't expose your feet during the Cold Dew season." "Don't expose your body during the White Dew season, and don't expose your feet during the Cold Dew season" reminds everyone: after the White Dew season is over, you can no longer expose your body when wearing clothes; after the Cold Dew season is over, you should pay attention to keeping your feet warm.

2. "After eating the Cold Dew meal, it is rare to see people wearing thin clothes." After the Cold Dew, it is important not only to keep the feet warm, but also to keep the whole body warm. Lu Jun, deputy chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at the Zhongda Hospital affiliated to Southeast University, suggested that special groups such as women during menstruation and pregnancy, the elderly, arthritis patients, and people with yang deficiency should wear long underwear in time.

3. "Autumn and winter fog is like a knife that kills people." It should be noted that in the Cold Dew season, in addition to the temperature drop, there is also foggy weather. As the old saying goes, "Autumn and winter fog is like a knife that kills people." If you don't take precautions at this time, it will not only induce some respiratory diseases such as coughs, but also easily cause the root of the disease, leading to recurrence next year. If the fog persists, it will increase the burden on the circulatory system of the elderly.

Cold Dew arrives, four parts of your body should not be frozen

1. Don't let your head get cold. It's best to wear a hat when you go out in autumn. When washing your hair, use hotter water than usual. When sweating on your forehead, don't let it get exposed to the wind. This is because the head is the "meeting place of all yang" in the human body and is one of the parts with the most yang energy in the whole body. If you get cold, most of the yang energy in the body will be lost.

2. The abdomen cannot be frozen.

There are many important meridians in the abdomen, such as the spleen and stomach meridians, liver and kidney meridians, and the three meridians of Ren, Chong and Du start from the abdominal cavity. If this part gets cold, it will cause blood stasis in the abdominal meridians, which will affect the function of the organs. The navel is also called the Shenque point, which is a longevity point in the human body and needs to be protected.

3. The joints should not be frozen. As an important weight-bearing joint of the human body, the knee joint is most afraid of cold. In autumn and winter, not only is the temperature low, but there is often cold wind. In just a few minutes, the cold wind will invade the unprotected knee joints and make them cold. Especially for middle-aged people, the heat production capacity is reduced. If you do not wear autumn johns in time, the temperature of the blood returning to the lower limbs will decrease, which will also affect the nutrition and physiological state of the legs and feet and even the whole body.

4. Don’t let your feet get frozen. The feet are the farthest from the heart among all parts of the human body, so the blood has the longest distance to flow through them. The feet also gather many meridians of the whole body, so people often say “cold feet means cold whole body”.

Cold Dew is here, remember the "Five Ones"

1. A bowl of mutton soup. Cooking method: Take 50 grams of angelica, 500 grams of mutton, 60 grams of ginger, 50 milliliters of rice wine, 30 grams of green onion, and appropriate amount of salt.

First, remove the fascia from the mutton, put it into a pot of boiling water to blanch it briefly, remove it after removing the blood, and slice it for later use; wash the angelica, soak it in clean water to soften it, and slice it for later use; wash the ginger, and slice it for later use; put the angelica, ginger, onion, and mutton into a casserole, add clean water and rice wine, bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, then simmer on low heat until the mutton is cooked through, then add salt and other condiments before serving.

2. A basin of water for foot soaking. Cold air usually invades from the soles of the feet. Soaking feet in hot water can relax muscles, activate blood circulation and relieve fatigue. Generally, the water temperature should be around 40 degrees Celsius (not too hot to touch).

Some Chinese herbal medicines can also be added. Those with warming effect include: radix spatholobi, Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, cassia twig; those with blood circulation and meridian activating effect include: safflower, angelica, millettia reticulata, wormwood leaf. Chinese herbal medicines with different effects can be used together. Generally speaking, 10 grams of each can be used. Patients with diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc. should consult a doctor before use.

3. A cup of warming tea. Poria cocos honey tea. Poria cocos is rich in carbohydrates and can provide sufficient calories. Drinking it with honey can ensure that the body gets enough energy to resist the cold.

4. A set of warm clothes. There is a dressing formula for keeping warm in autumn and winter: close-fitting inside, loose in the middle and closed outside - underwear should be close-fitting, middle layer should be loose, and outer layer should be windproof. The underwear should be soft and close-fitting to help increase heat preservation. The middle layer should be highly hygroscopic, not too tight, and keep dry. The outer layer must be windproof, and it is best to have a closed design at the collar, cuffs, waist, and ankles to prevent cold air from entering.

5. Press the acupoint to warm up the body. We have a heating switch on our hands - Laogong acupoint. Massaging Laogong acupoint in cold weather can keep you warm. Laogong acupoint is located in the palm of our hand, between the 2nd and 3rd metacarpal bones, on the 3rd metacarpal bone. When you bend your fingers and make a fist, the point where the tip of your middle finger touches is the acupoint. You can use pressing, rubbing and other methods to massage in a counterclockwise direction, press for about 10 minutes each time, 2-3 times a day.