Go to bed early and get up late, don't take supplements in vain, 10 winter health care tips to boost your health

Winter is the season when life is dormant. It is the end of one year and the beginning of the next. As the saying goes, “Spring brings life, summer brings growth, autumn brings harvest, and winter brings storage.” Therefore, taking good care of your health in winter is crucial to your health in the coming year. Check out the key points of winter health care!

Winter health care: go to bed early and get up late

According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, humans and nature are a whole, and humans should follow the changes of the four seasons in nature and arrange their daily routines and rest in a reasonable manner. Hong Zhaoguang, chief physician at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, pointed out that when the sun rises, the body's biological clock will issue instructions and the sympathetic nerves will become excited, which means you should get up.

In winter, the days are shorter and the nights are longer. People should follow the principle of "hibernation in winter", extend their sleep time appropriately, and adjust their work and rest schedule to "early to bed and late to rise", going to bed one or two hours earlier and waking up one or two hours later than in other seasons. Liu Dequan, chief physician of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Beijing Geriatric Hospital, reminded that for the elderly who already have weak yang energy, it is best to wait until the sun comes out before getting up to avoid the cold evil. Otherwise, it is likely to cause colds, coughs, asthma and other respiratory diseases due to the cold, and even induce accidents such as angina pectoris.

Winter health care: eat breakfast late and dinner early

In winter, if you get up late, you should also postpone your breakfast. When you sleep, your digestive system is still working hard to digest the food you eat during the day. If you eat breakfast too early, your digestive system will be tired. After getting up, you can drink some water first, then prepare breakfast leisurely, leaving enough rest time for the digestive system.

The habit of going to bed early at night also determines that dinner should be eaten earlier in winter, especially for the elderly whose digestive function is weaker. It is even more necessary to eat earlier to ensure that the body has enough time to thoroughly digest food. This can not only avoid food accumulation at night, but also ensure good sleep quality.

Winter health care: eat "hard" food in the morning and drink liquid food in the evening

The "hard" breakfast mentioned here does not refer to hard food, but nutritious and high-energy food. Liu Dequan said that a good breakfast can better ensure the energy needed for a day's activities. Such as lean meat, grain foods, etc. However, the elderly with weak digestive function must also consider whether the food is easy to digest.

After dinner, people's activities will decrease. In order to avoid food accumulation, people should eat less and choose easily digestible food, such as porridge. Meat and spicy food are best avoided. Drinking porridge for dinner can nourish the stomach and calm the nerves. It is recommended that the elderly can eat yam porridge, lotus seed porridge, red date porridge, etc.

Drink water in the morning and honey in the evening to keep healthy in winter

There is a saying in traditional Chinese medicine: "Drink salt water in the morning and honey in the evening." Yang Li from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences explained that salt has the effects of clearing heat, cooling blood, detoxifying, and nourishing the kidneys. Drinking a glass of light salt water on an empty stomach after getting up in the morning can help reduce internal heat and benefit the kidneys, relieve constipation, improve the digestive function of the stomach and intestines, and is also good for people with internal heat and sore throats. However, patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertension, as well as people with poor kidney function should drink with caution; generally, the salt content in 100 ml of water should not exceed 0.9 grams, so as not to increase the burden on the kidneys and heart.

Drinking honey water at night can help digestion and sleep. You can scoop a spoonful of honey and mix it with warm water before going to bed every day. However, people who have the habit of getting up at night should not drink honey at night because it has a high sugar content and is easy to cause polyuria; diabetic patients should also drink it with caution.

Winter health care morning exercise late evening exercise early

Whether exercising early in the morning or in the evening, you need to adapt to the characteristics of the winter season. Liu Dequan believes that a major principle for choosing exercise time is: don't exercise if you can't see the sun. Therefore, morning exercise should wait until the sun comes out, and evening exercise should be done before the sun sets. Only in this way can the yang energy in the human body be protected from damage. Therefore, in winter, morning exercise should be done later than in other seasons, and evening exercise should be done earlier than in other seasons.

In addition, the temperature in winter is lower in the morning and evening, and the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is large. Going out to exercise too early is more likely to catch a cold, and may also cause physical discomfort due to blood vessel constriction and increased blood pressure. Exercising too late at night may also cause physical discomfort due to temperature issues. Elderly people with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should pay special attention.

Winter health care: focus on quiet exercise in the morning and move more in the evening

Some people like to do exercises and boxing, while others like to run and dance. Different exercise methods should be selected according to different physical conditions. Wu Wenqiang, associate professor of the School of Education at Beijing Sports University, believes that in the morning, people have just woken up from sleep and the whole body is still in a "suppressed" state. Appropriate exercise can help restore vitality. However, the awakening of the human body requires a process and should be gradual. Therefore, you should not do more intense exercise in the morning. You can mainly do morning exercises and practice Tai Chi.

In the evening, the human body is basically active. Research by British sports physiologists has also found that after 4 p.m. and in the evening, people's physical strength, reaction, and adaptability are in a better state, and their heart rate and blood pressure are relatively stable. Therefore, you can do slightly more intense activities, such as playing ball, running, etc. The elderly can also choose to dance, walk briskly, and other sports. However, if you schedule exercise time 20 minutes after dinner or 10 minutes before going to bed, you should try to be gentle and slow, such as walking.

Winter health care: get up early and sunbathe at night

Sunbathing helps supplement calcium and boosts spirits. Liu Dequan recommends getting more sunbathing in the morning. 15 minutes can help increase the body's vitamin D level and promote calcium absorption. Japan even uses regular sunbathing after getting up early as a sleep therapy, because sunbathing can gradually restore the body's biological clock to normal, which is one of the keys to alleviating insomnia.

Hot water foot bath helps blood circulation and improves sleep quality, so it is recommended to do it before going to bed. After a day of activities, the body is tired at night, and the liver and kidneys are in urgent need of rest and recuperation. Yang Li said that the best way to recuperate at this time is to soak the feet. Liu Dequan also suggested that you soak your feet in water at about 40 degrees Celsius for half an hour before going to bed, until your body is hot but not sweating. After soaking your feet, it is recommended not to do other activities and fall asleep after a few minutes for better results.

Winter health care should not be taken carelessly

Many people believe that winter is a golden season for nourishing the body. When winter comes, a large number of tonics are consumed. Many businesses have launched various "packages" and "partners" to cater to the needs of consumers. In fact, proper nourishment in winter is enough. Winter is mainly about storage, not leakage. Excessive nourishment will cause the body's balance to be broken and form a pathological state. In particular, excessive use of yang-tonifying and qi-tonifying products will cause the leakage of the body's essence and cause "no storage of essence in winter". Therefore, proper nourishment should be taken in winter, and no reckless nourishment should be taken, especially ginseng, deer antlers and other "tools" for replenishing qi and yang should be used with caution.

Winter health care: eat as you like but don't eat recklessly

In winter, when it is cold and freezing, many people will feel comfortable after eating a spicy hot pot and sweating, but they don’t know that this is dissipating the body’s yang energy. In winter, the main focus should be on nourishing the yin essence, and hot foods should not be used recklessly. Of course, you should not eat some cold foods in winter, so as not to damage the spleen yang, affect the spleen and stomach, and damage the digestive system. In short, in winter, you should mainly eat a mild and nourishing diet, such as drinking more porridge, adding some jujube, wolfberry, longan, white fungus, lily, and adding a small amount of ginger. It can nourish without being greasy, moist without being dry, and is a good tonic for winter. It is forbidden to eat a lot of hot foods such as mutton, peppers, etc., and a lot of cold foods such as fruits, ice cream, etc.

Winter health care, don't drink too much

In winter, many people like to drink some liquor to warm up their bodies. In fact, drinking in moderation is good for health. It can warm the blood vessels, dispel wind and dissipate cold. Shenghua Tang, a common prescription for postpartum women, is boiled with liquor. However, liquor is a warm product after all. Excessive drinking will dissipate the body's yang energy. In addition, excessive drinking will also produce dampness and phlegm, causing phlegm, dizziness and lack of energy. Nowadays, many young people like to drink beverages. These beverages contain a lot of sugar, which can easily lead to weight gain. In winter, excessive drinking of beverages can damage the spleen yang and cause indigestion. At the same time, some beverages also contain a lot of gas, which can easily cause abdominal distension after drinking. Therefore, you should not drink too much liquor in winter, and you should not drink too many cold beverages. In fact, red wine, as the most natural and healthy drink, has the function of beauty and skin care, and can be used as a good product for winter health care. In addition, black tea is sweet, warm in nature, good at storing yang energy, generating heat and warming the abdomen, which can enhance the body's resistance to cold. It also has the functions of removing greasiness, stimulating appetite and refreshing, which is very suitable for drinking in winter.