As winter approaches, more and more people are catching colds. So how can we prevent colds using dietary therapy, and how can we prepare medicinal meals at home to regulate our bodies?
The primary task in preventing colds is to strengthen one's own resistance. When the weather is cold, especially when it suddenly turns cold, the body's functions do not make corresponding adjustments, and its ability to resist external microorganisms and bacteria decreases. At this time, respiratory resistance also decreases, making it particularly easy for germs to invade the upper respiratory tract and cause a cold.
Medical research shows that cold weather puts the pituitary and adrenal systems in a state of tension, causing the body to convert more nutrients into heat to resist the cold. Therefore, it's important to consume sufficient amounts of heat-generating nutrients such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates in winter. It's also beneficial to eat more warming meats like beef, lamb, and dog meat in winter, while increasing the intake of vitamins and minerals to enhance the body's resistance and prevent colds.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that colds are mostly caused by the invasion of external wind pathogens. Colds are divided into wind-cold colds and wind-heat colds, with wind-cold colds being the most common type in winter. Different types of colds require different dietary therapies, so before using dietary therapy, you should first determine which type of cold you have.
Symptoms of a cold caused by wind-cold include severe chills (feeling extremely cold that cannot be relieved by adding clothes or blankets), mild fever, no sweating, headache, nasal congestion with clear runny nose, hoarseness, itchy throat and cough, thin white phlegm, and aches and pains in the limbs. Symptoms of a cold caused by wind-heat include high fever, mild chills, sore throat, cough with yellow phlegm, dry mouth, and excessive sweating.
If you catch a cold, you can easily soothe it at home with some simple methods, such as drinking rock sugar pear water to relieve cough and soothe the throat. Here's how to make rock sugar pear water: Choose good quality pears without blemishes (preferably fresh and juicy). Wash and peel the pears, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the core. The pear will now resemble a small bowl. Place rock sugar in the core area and steam it in the bowl. If you prefer a lighter flavor, you can add some water to the bowl. The steaming time is up to you. A shorter time will result in a crisper pear, while a longer time will make it softer. Of course, the key is that the rock sugar must be completely dissolved during steaming.
Here are some recommended medicinal diets for treating colds.
Recipe 1: Ginger and Brown Sugar Drink
Ingredients: 15g ginger (sliced), 30g brown sugar.
Preparation: Boil a bowl of water with ginger for 2 minutes, then add brown sugar and boil for another minute. Drink while hot. Cover yourself with a blanket to induce sweating after drinking.
Efficacy: It has a pungent and dispersing effect, relieves exterior symptoms and dispels cold. It is suitable for colds caused by wind and cold.
Note: This formula is a commonly used folk remedy for treating colds caused by wind and cold. Fresh ginger is pungent and warm, dispelling wind and cold; brown sugar is sweet and warm, relieving urgency and flavoring, preventing the pungent and warming effect of ginger from being too strong. Fresh ginger also has a good anti-emetic effect, therefore it is effective for colds caused by wind and cold accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
Recipe 2: Mint Porridge
Ingredients: 30g fresh mint (or 10g dried mint), 50g japonica rice, and rock sugar to taste.
Preparation: First, boil the mint for 2-3 minutes, then strain and reserve the liquid. Next, cook rice porridge. Once the porridge is cooked, pour in the mint liquid, cook for a few more minutes, and then add an appropriate amount of rock sugar before serving.
Efficacy: Dispels wind-heat. Suitable for wind-heat colds, fever, headache, sore throat, etc.
Note: Peppermint in this formula is pungent and cool, with a light and penetrating effect; rice is sweet and neutral, benefiting the stomach. The aroma of rice enhances the pungent and penetrating power of peppermint, while also preventing excessive sweating. The entire formula works to disperse wind-heat, clear the throat, promote rash eruption, and dispel foulness. It can be used for both exogenous wind-heat and measles with poor rash eruption in children.
Recipe 3: Ginger and Radish Soup
Ingredients: 25g ginger, 50g radish, a little brown sugar.
Preparation: Wash the ginger and radish, slice them, add an appropriate amount of water and simmer for 15 minutes, then add brown sugar and simmer for a while.
Efficacy: It has a pungent and warm nature, relieves exterior syndromes, stops coughs, and resolves phlegm. It is mainly used to treat acute upper respiratory tract infections of the wind-cold type, characterized by severe chills, mild fever, no sweating, headache, and nasal congestion.
Note: Modern medical research shows that radishes contain abundant starch and other digestive enzymes, which can promote digestion, strengthen the stomach, and relieve cough and phlegm.
