What kind of porridge is good to eat when you have a cold in winter?
Winter colds are categorized into wind-heat colds and wind-cold colds, and the type of porridge to eat depends on the specific situation.
Rice is the best choice for making porridge in winter. This is because rice is sweet and neutral in nature, and has the effects of harmonizing the stomach, tonifying the spleen, strengthening muscles and bones, and harmonizing the five internal organs. Other types of rice, such as millet and Job's tears, are sweet and slightly cold in nature, and are not very suitable for consumption in winter.
Wind-heat common cold
Symptoms: Sore throat, thick nasal discharge (usually yellow), fever, thirst, irritability, constipation. The tongue coating is slightly yellow, or possibly white, and the tongue body is usually quite red.
Two recommended porridge recipes for wind-heat type colds
1) Mint porridge
Ingredients: 15g mint, 60g japonica rice, rock sugar to taste, rice as needed.
Instructions: First, decoct the mint to extract the medicinal juice and let it cool. Then, cook rice porridge with water. When the porridge is almost done, add the mint juice and rock sugar. Serve while still warm; sweating is the best result.
Efficacy: Peppermint is an essential herb for dispelling wind-heat. When cooked into porridge with rice and rock sugar, it can promote sweating and also protect the stomach. It is most suitable for those with pre-existing stomach problems who have recently contracted wind-heat.
2) Mulberry leaf and loquat porridge
Ingredients: 18g mulberry leaves, 10g loquat leaves, 100g sugarcane, 6g mint, and appropriate amount of rice.
Instructions: Wash and chop all ingredients, add an appropriate amount of water, simmer to extract the juice, add 60 grams of rice and cook until the porridge thickens, then eat while hot.
Common cold
Symptoms: severe pain in the back of the head, aversion to cold and wind, clear nasal discharge, tongue with no coating or a thin white coating, no fever or mild fever, and no sweating.
Here are two recommended porridge recipes suitable for colds caused by wind and cold.
1) Ginger and Perilla Leaf Porridge
Ingredients: 10 grams of perilla leaves, 3 slices of ginger, and an appropriate amount of rice.
Instructions: After cooking the white rice porridge, add perilla leaves and ginger, then bring it to a boil and it's ready to eat.
Ginger is the best "weapon" to deal with symptoms such as fever, sneezing, and coughing, and it has the effects of expectoration, dispelling cold, replenishing qi, and relieving asthma; perilla leaves have the effect of dispersing wind and cold, and can be bought in general pharmacies.
2) Ginger and Jujube Porridge
Ingredients: Jujubes, ginger, and rice, in appropriate amounts.
Instructions: Put the rice in a pot and dry-fry it briefly. Then add water and stir the rice evenly with a spoon. Add jujubes and ginger slices and simmer over low heat until the porridge is cooked. Add a little salt.
Efficacy: Its warming effect is similar to that of "ginger and perilla leaf porridge".
