To prevent diarrhea, the first thing to note is to keep warm. Some people enjoy cold dishes and even consume them with cold drinks, resulting in a condition where it feels like a faucet that can't be turned off; this is a sign of being chilled.
Ginger and Scallion Glutinous Rice Porridge
Chinese people refer to cold dishes as "xia jiu cai" (下酒菜), which are dishes meant to be eaten with alcohol. The purpose is to use the cooling nature of the dishes to balance the heating nature of the alcohol. However, for those who don't drink, or who drink ice-cold beer, consuming cold dishes daily is bound to make them susceptible to cold. Therefore, we should be careful not to over-consume cold and raw foods, and should also eat more foods that expel dampness, such as carp, red beans, daylilies, lettuce, and winter melon. These foods can help expel dampness through urination and bowel movements.
Of course, the therapeutic effect will be more significant if medicinal diets are used as an adjunct treatment. Common examples include "Angelica and Ginger Lamb Soup" and "Carp and Red Bean Soup". Here, I will introduce another medicinal diet recorded in the "Bing Bu Shou Ji Fang" (《兵部手集方》) by the Tang dynasty physician Li Jiangang—the Ginger and Jujube Porridge. Don't be fooled by its simple preparation; it is very effective for summer diarrhea.
First, prepare 15 grams of ginger, peeled and shredded. Then take 100 grams of japonica rice, wash it clean. Place the rice in a pot, add 1000 ml of water, and bring to a boil. Then add the shredded ginger, 5 pitted jujubes, and simmer over low heat until it becomes a porridge. It can be consumed warm twice a day, in the morning and evening.
In this porridge, ginger is an excellent remedy for warming the stomach and dispelling cold. It enters the lung meridian to stimulate the appetite and can remove cold from the abdomen. Jujube is considered the "fruit of the spleen" and is an ideal food for those with a weak spleen. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is often used to treat symptoms such as emaciation, fatigue, poor appetite, and loose stools caused by a weak spleen and stomach. The combination of the two indeed has an ideal effect of warming the lungs, stomach, and dispelling cold. It should be noted that this porridge is not suitable for individuals with yin deficiency and internal heat, who may have symptoms such as emaciation, a flushed complexion, dry mouth and throat, and excessive thirst that is not quenched by drinking water.