"Today is the Beginning of Heat" and the cool breeze is blowing. It is best to nourish yin and moisten dryness, benefit the lungs and produce body fluids!

On August 23, we ushered in the Chushu, one of the 24 solar terms. Chushu means "the end of summer heat".

The "Collection of Explanations of the 72 Seasonal Changes of the Lunar Calendar" records: "Chu means to go, and the hot summer ends here." At this time, the summer vacation is about to end, the autumn air begins to dispel the hot summer, the heat is about to end, and the weather is obviously getting cooler.

There are three signs in the End of Heat:

A migratory eagle is a sacrificial bird. The eagle begins to hunt birds in large numbers;

The second phase is the beginning of the world's solemnity. All things in the world begin to wither;

The third phase is the harvest of rice and sorghum.

Also, after the Beginning of Autumn, people are often troubled by "autumn dryness" and "autumn fatigue". Today, Dr. Licorice will tell you the key points of health preservation during the Beginning of Autumn!

Keep warm in spring and cool in autumn to avoid diseases

After the Beginning of Autumn, the weather gradually becomes cooler, and people begin to gradually transition from preventing heatstroke and cooling down to preventing cold and keeping warm.

"Keep warm in spring and cool in autumn to avoid diseases" is a traditional folk health-preserving method. That is to say, the temperature in autumn is slightly cooler and the early autumn heat has not yet subsided, so it is not advisable to add too many clothes too early.

Appropriate cool stimulation can help to train the body's ability to withstand cold. If you wear too many clothes and cover yourself too tightly at this time, you will sweat too much, which will cause the depletion of yin essence and the leakage of yang energy.

However, the response to autumn cold also varies from person to person. You need to flexibly judge how much clothes to wear according to the situation. You need to keep yourself from feeling too cold so that your body can gradually adapt to the cool climate.

Special attention: Since the navel is the part of the human body that is most susceptible to cold, once it catches cold it will affect the spleen and stomach functions, and people will experience loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other discomforts. Therefore, during the "autumn cold", you should pay attention to keeping the navel warm, and women should not wear or wear less navel-revealing clothes.

Eat a light and moist diet, less spicy and more sour

After the Beginning of Autumn, the dry air becomes obvious, and people often begin to feel their skin becomes tight, or even flaking, with increased dandruff, dry or chapped lips, and dry and hard stools. Therefore, health care during the Beginning of Autumn is inseparable from "preventing autumn dryness."

The respiratory system is an open system with the lungs as the main organ. From the nasal cavity, throat to the trachea, bronchi, and then to the lungs, the dry air in autumn can easily wreak havoc all the way, damaging organs along the way. Dryness is a major cause of lung damage and also causes many respiratory health problems.

In addition, the lungs and large intestine are closely related. When the lungs are injured by dry evil, the large intestine will also be affected, which may cause intestinal dryness and constipation.

"Yinshi Zhengyao" says: "Autumn air is dry, it is suitable to eat hemp to moisten the dryness, and avoid cold drinks." In autumn, dry air is in season and it is easy to damage body fluids, so the diet should be "nourishing yin and moistening the lungs". Cold foods that relieve summer heat should be eaten less at this time.

In terms of diet, eat more yin-nourishing and juicy foods, such as white fungus, winter melon, figs, longan, lily, white grass root, honey, sesame, walnuts, etc.

[3 seasonal dietary recipes recommended to you at the end of the article~]

After entering autumn, Chinese medicine has the saying of "less pungent and more sour". Eating more sour foods, such as hawthorn, lemon, pomegranate, grape, grapefruit, sour jujube, etc., can help moisturize dryness and nourish yin.

At the same time, it is best to use less spicy foods such as garlic, onion, ginger, star anise, and fennel when cooking. These condiments are hot in nature and lose a lot of water during cooking, which can easily cause inflammation after eating. In addition, the autumn climate is dry and the dry air hurts the lungs. Overeating can easily damage the lungs, aggravate the body's water loss and dryness, and is not conducive to the convergence of lung qi.

Also, because spicy things have a dispersing effect, eating overly spicy food will cause the body to sweat, mobilizing the yang energy in the lungs to be released from the body through sweat. When the yang energy is dispersed, the body will naturally cool down.

In addition to ginger, spicy and stimulating foods such as chili peppers and peppercorns should not be eaten too much, and it is even more inappropriate to eat fried foods, strong alcohol, barbecue, and hot pot foods, so as not to aggravate the symptoms of autumn dryness.

Adjust your daily life to relieve autumn fatigue

After the Beginning of Autumn, the weather turns from hot to cool, and many people will feel lazy and tired, which is called "autumn fatigue". This is because the Yang energy in nature tends to converge, and the rise and fall of the Yin and Yang energy in the human body also changes accordingly.

To relieve autumn fatigue, you should get enough sleep. People who are good at keeping in good health should go to bed at 21:00-22:00 and get up at around 6:00 in the morning. Even if you go to bed late, it should not be later than midnight (23:00), and it is not advisable to get up earlier than 5:00 in the morning.

These 6 hours are the golden time for sleeping, which is when the gallbladder, liver and lung meridians are in season. They can only play their respective roles when the human body is in a resting state.

In addition, a strong spleen during the Beginning of Autumn is an important guarantee for good health. When the weather is cold, you should protect your abdomen, especially your navel. When you sleep at night, you should cover your waist and abdomen. You should often rub your palms to warm them up and massage your navel to prevent the cold from invading the spleen and stomach and causing acute abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms.

At the same time, evening entertainment activities should be reduced appropriately and exercise should not be too strenuous. You can choose to go mountain climbing, practice Tai Chi, swim, etc.

Moxibustion during the End of Heat strengthens the body's vital energy

The dry air in autumn is most likely to damage the lungs. Due to the temperature and humidity after the Beginning of Autumn, it is very easy to cause deficiency of both Qi and Yin. Insufficient Qi will lead to fatigue and lack of vitality. It can also lead to depletion of Yin and fluid, resulting in problems such as dry skin, headache and fever.

At this time, regular moxibustion on the three major acupoints of Feishu, Taixi and Yongquan can accelerate the circulation of qi and blood in the meridians, thereby replenishing the body's yang energy, clearing and protecting the lungs, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing autumn dryness.

[Feishu Point] has the functions of dispersing heat from the lung organs, regulating and replenishing lung qi, tonifying deficiency and clearing heat, and relieving cough.

[Taixi Point] has the functions of nourishing yin and tonifying yang, clearing away heat and invigorating qi.

[Yongquan Point] has the functions of clearing away heat and calming the mind, nourishing yin and benefiting the kidney, and regulating yin and yang.

Emotional conditioning, eliminating distracting thoughts

Autumn is a season of solemnity and killing. In ancient times, there was a saying that "revenges will be settled in autumn" and "executions will be carried out in autumn".

In the Suwen. The Great Treatise on the Four Qi and the Regulating Spirit, it says: "Calm the mind to ease the punishment of autumn; restrain the spirit to make the autumn qi peaceful; do not let the mind wander to make the lung qi clear."

This means that in autumn, we should maintain mental tranquility to mitigate the impact of the killing energy; we should pay attention to restraining our spirit and not letting our mind wander, so as to preserve the clear and killing energy in the lungs.

Therefore, we should maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, try to eliminate distracting thoughts, avoid being too selfish and indulgent; get closer to nature, take more deep breaths in places with good air to ventilate the lungs; in addition, the Beginning of Heat is a harvest season, the fruits of plants are ripe, and the outdoor scenery is charming, so this is a good time to go out for an outing and relax.

Recommended dietary therapy for the end of summer

01 | Fig Lung Nourishing Porridge

Ingredients: 3-5 dried figs, 50 grams of Imperata root, 30 grams of lily, 100 grams of rice, and appropriate amount of honey.

Preparation: Wash the Imperata root, add appropriate amount of water into the pot and cook for 20-30 minutes, then take out the Imperata root; add chopped figs, lily and rice, cook until the rice is cooked, let it cool, add appropriate amount of honey to taste and it is ready to eat.

Efficacy: nourishes the spleen and stomach, moistens the lungs and relieves dryness. It can prevent "lung dryness" caused by dry weather or environmental pollution, and has an overall conditioning effect on the respiratory system.

02 | Water chestnut, radish and pork ribs soup

Ingredients: 100 grams of water chestnuts, 100 grams of carrots, 5 grams of tangerine peel, 400 grams of spare ribs, and 3 slices of ginger.

Method: Wash and cut the water chestnuts and carrots, wash and cut the ribs into pieces, add tangerine peel and ginger, put them into a casserole, add appropriate amount of water, boil over high heat, simmer over low heat for about 1-1.5 hours, and add fine salt.

Efficacy: nourishing yin and benefiting the stomach, strengthening the spleen and benefiting the lungs, and eliminating stagnation. Suitable for people who have symptoms such as indigestion and abdominal distension during the Chushu solar term.

03 | Five Juice Drink

Ingredients: 100 grams of snow pear, 50 grams of water chestnut, 50 grams of fresh lotus root, 10 grams of Ophiopogon japonicus, and 20 grams of reed root.

Method: Peel, wash, chop and mix the first three ingredients to make juice; wash Ophiopogon japonicus and Phragmites australis, boil for 30 minutes, remove the residue and take the juice, let it cool. Mix the two juices and shake well, and drink it instead of tea.

Efficacy: Clears away heat and resolves phlegm, nourishes yin and moistens dryness. It is suitable for symptoms such as phlegm-heat cough, dry lung and throat, irritability and shortness of breath during the Beginning of Autumn.

From today on, we must follow the natural trend of Yin growing and Yang gathering, do not consume or supplement, and let nature take its course to slowly adjust the body from the state of Yang's open release outwards to the state of restraint and calm storage.

Perhaps your relatives and friends are in need of this kind of guidance on health preservation during the Beginning of Autumn. Feel free to share it with more people in need.

Note: The various prescriptions and proven recipes mentioned in the article are for reference only and cannot be used as prescriptions. Please do not try them blindly. This platform does not assume any responsibility arising therefrom!

Source: Public Health Sharing Channel